MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has given the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) a three-day ultimatum to settle their tax liabilities.
The Chief Executive initially ordered POGOs to settle their liabilities in 24 hours but changed it to three days during his television interview on Friday night.
“They are now ordered to register with the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and kumuha ng tag number,” Duterte said in an interview with the CNN Philippines.
“You better settle that utang or else gawin ko kayong pugo,” he added. “Huwag ninyong lokohin ang Pilipino kasi ang Pilipino hindi loko-loko.”
Upon the order of Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez to shut down POGOs with tax liabilities, the BIR started its crackdown on POGOs last September.
Domiguez said then that POGOs operating in the country have unpaid taxes that already amounted to P21.62 billion.
Latest BIR data showed that a total of P1.63 billion in witholding taxes was collected from POGOs and service providers from January to August this year. The bureau collected around P579 million in 2018 and P175 million in 2017./PN
