Priority bills

THE proposal for a separate tax regime for POGOS was listed among the priority

measures of the Legislative-executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), as lawmakers backed measures to tap additional source of revenue in the wake of last January’s Supreme Court-issued temporary restraining order, blocking imposition of a 5-percent franchise tax on POGOS, as provided in the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.

The High Court ruled the tax as a “rider” or a subject matter not covered by the law’s title, and thus illegal.

At Thursday’s hearing, however, Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon sought the confirmation of BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa, that the proposed amendments to the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), once passed, would cure the problem with the “rider” and allow BIR to proceed with collecting from the POGOS the disallowed tax.

Finance Department officials joined economic managers in pressing passage of enabling legislation seeking to tax POGOS which were deemed among the “under-tapped revenue sources for the cashstrapped government.”

The move to maximize revenue from the POGO sector was begun in 2019 by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who led an interagency initiative to reconcile data and systems among the Department of Labor and Employment, Bureau of Immigration and the BIR, among others. This resulted in a sharp increase in the number of companies and POGO workers, previously under the radar, but were forced to comply with government regulations, subsequently boosting state revenue.

Among the senators who expressed support for the continuing initiatives to optimize collections from the sector were Recto, Economic Affairs panel chief Marcos and Sen. Manuel Lapid.