Bill on POGO taxation hurdles House panel

The panel, chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, approved House Bill 5257, which seeks to impose a 5 percent franchise tax on all offshore gaming companies on gross receipts derived from gaming operations. (File photo: Joey Sarte Salceda/Facebook)

MANILA — The House committee on ways and means on Monday approved a measure that seeks to tax companies and workers engaged or involved in Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs).

The panel, chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, approved House Bill 5257, which seeks to impose a 5 percent franchise tax on all offshore gaming companies on gross receipts derived from gaming operations.

It also proposes to set a 25-percent withholding tax on foreign POGO workers with a minimum threshold of PHP600,000 per annum.

Salceda said these proposed tax rates would raise a total of PHP45 billion for the national government.

He stressed it was necessary to determine the taxation of the emerging POGO industry, as several online gaming facilities have recently proliferated in the country.

He further noted that a clear definitive tax regime for POGOs will be a potent revenue source. It will also be a means of placing these facilities under stricter oversight — failure to faithfully report revenues and expenses will constitute tax evasion.

“Codifying the tax regime for POGOs will provide the government a broader set of levers with which to monitor and oversee the industry and to stabilize the gyrations in tax revenue intake and enforcement,” Salceda said.