MINAMADALI na ng isang interagency task force ang pagtitipon sa kompletong listahan ng foreign nationals na nagtatrabaho para sa Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) sa layuning makakolekta ng tinatayang P22 billion na income taxes taon-taon, ayon sa Department of Finance.
Nauna nang hiniling ni Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III sa Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Immigration (BI) at sa iba’t ibang special economic zones na magpalabas ng komprehensibong talaan ng foreign workers sa POGOs.
Gayunman ay sinabi ng DOF na may nakitang pagkakaiba ang isang miyembro ng interagency task force sa initial list base sa figures na isinumite sa isang pagpupulong kamakailan.
“We have to get a clear picture here. If we do not have that, how can the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) do its job, which is to collect taxes from everybody so that we are being fair to all Filipinos who are paying their taxes?” ani Dominguez.
“In our computations, there is at least P22 billion a year not being collected in the income taxes from these POGO workers who could possibly exceed 100,000 in number,” aniya.
Sinabi naman ni BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa na base sa inisyal na datos, sa average na 515 foreign workers na nagtatrabaho sa 200 operators, ang pamahalaan ay makakakolekta ng income tax mula sa 103,000 dayuhan.
Ayon pa kay Guballa, may ulat din sa China na ang mga foreign worker sa POGOs ay tumatanggap ng average na 10,000 yuan ($1,500 o P78,000 kada buwan).
“This means that at an average of income tax of 25 percent, there should be about P18,750 a month collected by the BIR for each foreign worker or a total of P22.5 billion of foregone revenues a year,” ani Domiguez.
“We have to go after these guys because they are not paying taxes. Simple. We hope that everybody will be 100 percent cooperative here so that these guys can get their taxes collected,” dagdag ng kalihim.
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