HIGHLY PAID OFWs MAY LOSE TAX PERKS

[chua_riwap]

Mga Kabayans, ano masasabi niyo sa balak ng BIR na i-tax ulit ang mga "Makabagong Bayani"? Pero balak nila, hindi lahat ng OFWs apektado, yung above $6K ang annual income lang ang ita-tax.

Patay tayo diyan, pag natuloy ito........


Highly paid OFWs May Lose Tax Perks

Article posted April 10, 2007 - 10:43 PM
BY JUDY T. GULANE, BusinessWorld Senior Reporter

The Bureau of Internal Revenue is again thinking of removing the income tax perk enjoyed by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), but only for those it says are highly paid. Internal Revenue Commissioner Jose Mario C. Buñag, in an interview, said there has been no "definite decision" on whether to push for the removal of OFWs? income tax exemption or not. But if the plan is approved, the levy would be meted only on professionals such as bank employees and doctors "who make so much money."

"If ever, factory workers and domestic workers [will retain their income tax exemption]," Mr. Buñag said. Taxing OFWs will require an amendment of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, which presently provides that "an individual citizen of the Philippines who is working and deriving income from abroad as an overseas contract worker is taxable only on income from sources within the Philippines." The Code further provides that Filipino seamen working in vessels "engaged exclusively in international trade" are considered overseas workers. The code does not distinguish between skilled and non-skilled workers. Before the 1997 tax reform, OFWs were subjected to income tax. Since they also paid income taxes abroad, their payments were used as credits against their liabilities in the Philippines.

Mr. Buñag did not detail how the income taxation of OFWs will be carried out this time - assuming the tax bureau proceeds with the plan - saying the matter is presently under study. The Finance department, in 2004, pushed for the removal of the OFWs? income tax exemption as one of several measures to collect more revenues for the government. Protests by OFWs and their families,
however, prompted the department to withdraw the proposal from Congress. It claimed then that the now-defunct Presidential Task Force on Tax Reforms did not intend to exempt all OFWs from income tax. It said that the plan, in fact, was to tax only those earning more than $6,000 annually and to exempt the "small income" workers. The department proposed that Congress "make the high-paying overseas Filipinos, like professionals and technical workers, share in the burden of financing the public sector" by reimposing the income tax on those with annual gross incomes of at least $6,000.

Around eight million Filipinos are presently working abroad, remitting a record $12.76 billion back to the Philippines in 2006. They remitted $10.69 billion in 2005. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said tje higher deployment of workers and better remittance channels
accounted for the increase. The bank expects remittances to further go up to $14.7 billion this year.

All Rights Reserved. 2006 © GMA Network Inc.

[artpogi]

Ex-OFW here, BIR teh sucks :bleh:

[nicolodeon]

Expect a backlash from our OFWs abroad. Those who work in the US, Canada, EU countries and Australia are already heavily taxed (please correct me if I a wrong). Next thing thing they would want is to get heavily taxed here. I've quite a number of OFW friends and relatives. They won't mind paying their dues, for as long as any government that sits in our land is accountable for where the taxes would go and be transparent on where the tax money would be used. Their (my OFW friends and relatives) peeve is that if they pay high taxes here, it would just fall into the pocket of some politician as pork barrel or mis-used by government agencies.

Instead of sending money through regular remittance channels where the government benefits from, what might happen (among a myriad of things that could happen) is that (a) the OFWs would just save up and send money to their families c/o of a co-worker coming home or bring it home themselves or (b) open a dollar account in the country where they work and reside, then just wire transfer the money to the account of a relative.

IMO, the past governments have been spending more than they can effectively collect.

Thing is, taxes from the salaried man make up a big part of the bulk of government tax collection from industries/businesses. There are a lot of big time businesses and business men that (allegedly) don't pay the correct taxes. Some don't even pay at all.

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata...

[arieslhon]

grabe na ito ....lufet talaga ng Government s atin
di bale sana kung nakikita natin kung saan napupunta ang tax eh pero hinde huhuhuhu napupunta lang s mga buwaya n naka upo .........
ngayon nga eh ang baba n ng USD pero bilihin eh mahal p din grabe n itooooooo......GISING !!!!!!!!!

[VtEC]

Mga Kabayans, ano masasabi niyo sa balak ng BIR na i-tax ulit ang mga "Makabagong Bayani"? Pero balak nila, hindi lahat ng OFWs apektado, yung above $6K ang annual income lang ang ita-tax.

Patay tayo diyan, pag natuloy ito........

$6K annual ba yan or $60K bro? if that is only $6K, mukhang di na proper term yong "hindi lahat" kasi mukhang pati DH sapol.Ala naman sigurong ofw na kumikita lang ng $400 per month (just wondering)..

[chua_riwap]

$6K annual ba yan or $60K bro? if that is only $6K, mukhang di na proper term yong "hindi lahat" kasi mukhang pati DH sapol.Ala naman sigurong ofw na kumikita lang ng $400 per month (just wondering)..

Sir, US$ 6,000.00 yun. Annual income. So US 500.00 monthly. Kung above US500 ka, may tax ka na.

Maraming OFW dito sa M.East na mas mababa pa sa US$500 ang salary. Lalo na yung mga maids at nasa maliliit na kumpanya.

Kawawa naman tayong mga OFWs. Bagsak na nga exchange rates, ganito pa mangyayari.

[VtEC]

Sir, US$ 6,000.00 yun. Annual income. So US 500.00 monthly. Kung above US500 ka, may tax ka na.

Maraming OFW dito sa M.East na mas mababa pa sa US$500 ang salary. Lalo na yung mga maids at nasa maliliit na kumpanya.

Kawawa naman tayong mga OFWs. Bagsak na nga exchange rates, ganito pa mangyayari.

o wow, e di talagang parusa yan kung sakali specially sa 6K lang a year?tsk tsk tsk, ano naba talaga nagawa ng government para sa mga ofw?

[transmixer]

dagdag parusa ito. nagtitiis na ngang malayo sa pamilya tapos babawasan pa ang kita para sa tax. OFW din po ako.

[raikkah]

Nung nasa Pinas ako... ang laki ng binabayaran ko na tax....pero wala akong nanakikitang pinupuntahan kundi sa bulsa ng mga nasa gobyerno, kasama na dito ang pang Gasolina ng mga SUV...

Ngayon, nagtrabaho ka na sa ibang bansa, may tax ka na dito, pag padala mo ng pera may tax pa rin...

siguro mga kapwa Tsikot members... mag post na kayo ng mag post at baka by tomorrow maisipan ni gloria na pati ang pag post dito eh i-tax na rin...

Isa pa... kung magtax sila sa income ng mga OFW, dapat magtayo sila ng bagong ahensya ng gobyerno... BER, Bureau of External Revenue

[A121]

dagdag parusa ito. nagtitiis na ngang malayo sa pamilya tapos babawasan pa ang kita para sa tax. OFW din po ako.

oo nga sir eh. dollar earners lalagyan ng tax? pwe