Senators reject plan to tax small-time online sellers
Published Jun 14, 2020 12:00 am
By Hannah Torregoza
The plan to tax online micro and small business is not only insensitive but totally unnecessary, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Sunday (June 14).
(Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“First of all, many of these online sellers are trying to survive during this time of a (COVID-19) pandemic and to harass them on their last means of income is heartless to say the least,” Zubiri said reacting to the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) plan to tax online sellers.
“Those with devious minds planning these tax schemes will have little or no support at the Senate for these measures. I myself, together with like-minded senators, will make sure of that,” the majority leader also said.
Zubiri said that instead of taxing online sellers, senators will pursue moves for the government to heavily tax the Chinese-operated Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) “that’s growing within our country like a virus.”
“Let’s slap a heavy excise or franchise tax on top of the income tax charged to them (POGOs),” he said.
“Why make our small enterprising and entrepreneurial Pinoys suffer from the threat of taxation and allow foreign POGO operators to operate while evading or under paying their taxes?” he asked.
The BIR itself said that the majority of the 60 licensed POGOs operating in the Philippines have failed to pay the government some P50 billion in withholding income and franchise taxes in 2019.
“We understand that our government needs revenue, but we must focus on what’s important, on which industry needs government support to survive as well as which industry could share the burden,” the senator said. “Definitely taxing small online businesses is not the answer.”
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian shared Zubiri’s stance, saying he too, rejects such “insensitive” moves and that the government should allow micro, small, and medium enterprises to earn while the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kung maging stable na itong condition natin, wala na tayo sa pandemya, tsaka natin pag-isipan kung paano sila buwisan. Pero sa ngayon hindi ho maganda yung timing (If our condition becomes stable, we no longer have the pandemic, then let’s think about how we can tax them. But as of now the timing is not good),” Gatchalian said in an interview over GMANews TV.
Gatchalian, vice chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, reiterated that taxation is all about timing.
He pointed out that Congress had done its part supporting the government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law and the additional excise taxes on liquor and cigarettes, including the administration’s bid to fight corruption through computerization. But some of the tax laws have not even been fully implemented.
“Kaya ang ibig ko sabihin is, ang pinakamagandang timing is tapusin muna natin itong pandemiya para ang focus natin ay ang paglaban sa COVID-19 (That’s why I think the best timing is for us to let this pandemic pass so we can focus on fighting COVID-19),” he said.
“Pagtapos kapag marami na tayong nakitang umusbong dito sa online selling at marami na rin kumikita dito, doon natin pag-isipan kung paano patawan ng buwis para kumita naman ang ating pamahalaan (Afterwards, when we see that a lot of online sellers are flourishing, that's when we think about how to tax them for the government to earn)),” he said.
Gatchalian also echoed Zubiri and Sen. Joel Villanueva’s belief that the BIR should focus on the POGOs who owe the government and make them settle their tax obligations.
Based on his calculations, he said the BIR can collect around P70 billion if it goes after the 24 POGO firms that were not paying their tax commitments.
“Parang makikita mo hindi tama yung prioritization, habulin na lang nila kaagad itong mga POGO para makakuha tayo ng P70 billion kaagad (You can see the prioritization isn't right, they should just immediately pursue the POGOs so we can get P70 billion),” Gatchalian said.
(Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“First of all, many of these online sellers are trying to survive during this time of a (COVID-19) pandemic and to harass them on their last means of income is heartless to say the least,” Zubiri said reacting to the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) plan to tax online sellers.
“Those with devious minds planning these tax schemes will have little or no support at the Senate for these measures. I myself, together with like-minded senators, will make sure of that,” the majority leader also said.
Zubiri said that instead of taxing online sellers, senators will pursue moves for the government to heavily tax the Chinese-operated Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) “that’s growing within our country like a virus.”
“Let’s slap a heavy excise or franchise tax on top of the income tax charged to them (POGOs),” he said.
“Why make our small enterprising and entrepreneurial Pinoys suffer from the threat of taxation and allow foreign POGO operators to operate while evading or under paying their taxes?” he asked.
The BIR itself said that the majority of the 60 licensed POGOs operating in the Philippines have failed to pay the government some P50 billion in withholding income and franchise taxes in 2019.
“We understand that our government needs revenue, but we must focus on what’s important, on which industry needs government support to survive as well as which industry could share the burden,” the senator said. “Definitely taxing small online businesses is not the answer.”
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian shared Zubiri’s stance, saying he too, rejects such “insensitive” moves and that the government should allow micro, small, and medium enterprises to earn while the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kung maging stable na itong condition natin, wala na tayo sa pandemya, tsaka natin pag-isipan kung paano sila buwisan. Pero sa ngayon hindi ho maganda yung timing (If our condition becomes stable, we no longer have the pandemic, then let’s think about how we can tax them. But as of now the timing is not good),” Gatchalian said in an interview over GMANews TV.
Gatchalian, vice chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, reiterated that taxation is all about timing.
He pointed out that Congress had done its part supporting the government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law and the additional excise taxes on liquor and cigarettes, including the administration’s bid to fight corruption through computerization. But some of the tax laws have not even been fully implemented.
“Kaya ang ibig ko sabihin is, ang pinakamagandang timing is tapusin muna natin itong pandemiya para ang focus natin ay ang paglaban sa COVID-19 (That’s why I think the best timing is for us to let this pandemic pass so we can focus on fighting COVID-19),” he said.
“Pagtapos kapag marami na tayong nakitang umusbong dito sa online selling at marami na rin kumikita dito, doon natin pag-isipan kung paano patawan ng buwis para kumita naman ang ating pamahalaan (Afterwards, when we see that a lot of online sellers are flourishing, that's when we think about how to tax them for the government to earn)),” he said.
Gatchalian also echoed Zubiri and Sen. Joel Villanueva’s belief that the BIR should focus on the POGOs who owe the government and make them settle their tax obligations.
Based on his calculations, he said the BIR can collect around P70 billion if it goes after the 24 POGO firms that were not paying their tax commitments.
“Parang makikita mo hindi tama yung prioritization, habulin na lang nila kaagad itong mga POGO para makakuha tayo ng P70 billion kaagad (You can see the prioritization isn't right, they should just immediately pursue the POGOs so we can get P70 billion),” Gatchalian said.