MANILA – Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez sought an accounting of foreign nationals working in offshore gaming operations in the Philippines to ensure their compliance with tax laws, according to a statement from his office released on Thursday.
Identifying the employers of the foreign nationals will be a “good starting point” to ensure that proper taxes are paid, the Department of Finance said.
“If we get all that (information), then it is possible that we can begin to collect taxes, enforcing the law on these foreign workers who are operating here. Isn’t that what we really want to do here, enforce the law?” Dominguez said during a recent meeting with heads of government agencies.
The DOF said Dominguez and the members of the Interagency Task Force, led by the Department of Labor and Employment and the Bureau of Immigration would meet after 30 days where a “clean list” of foreign nationals working in offshore gaming is expected.
The consolidated list will come from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration, Department of Labor and Employment, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, Department of Trade and Industry and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 78-2018, all Philippine-based and foreign gaming operators are required to register with the BIR as a prerequisite in the renewal of their PAGCOR licenses, the statement said.
It is also “imperative” for the government to find out who and where these alien workers are “given the national security implications of their large presence in the country,” the DOF said. (ABS-CBN News)
