Govt’s bid to optimize revenue from Pogo backed

FINANCE officials on Thursday defended related bills taxing Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOS) in a move seen to provide additional funds for the cash-strapped government, whose revenue base was eroded during the pandemic’s crippling lockdowns.

Appearing at a virtual hearing of the Senate Ways and Means Committee chaired by Sen. Pia Cayetano, officials led by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) sought timely enactment of revenue-raising measures to “address the pandemic and pull the economy out of recession.”

This, as the BIR said that its projected collections from the POGO sector in 2021 could contract by over 45 percent.

It reported a 68.63-percent plunge in January 2021 figures (P372.2 million from P1.43 billion in the same period in 2020), as the impact of prolonged quarantines hit many gaming operations.

Related story in Banking, B3, “Revenue collected from POGOS to contract by 45.37% this year”.

Among the pending measures under consideration are Senate Bill 1295, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, seeking to establish a POGO tax regime for POGOS; and Senate Bill 2076 filed by Sen. Imee Marcos entitled, “An Act Taxing Persons Engaged in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations adding a new section in the National Internal Revenue Code,” as well as House Bill 5777, imposing levies on the offshore entities operating in the country, estimated to raise P144 billion in fresh revenues.

Awaiting its Senate counterpart version, HB 5777 was approved in the House of Representatives in February, and aims to impose a 5-percent tax on gross receipts, and 25-percent tax on salaries and other remunerations received by POGO foreign workers earning P600,000 annually.