BIR reports POGO worker tax collections of P200M
THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has gathered around P200-million worth of taxes from foreign workers in the Philippines for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) since it started such collections from the industry last month.
“Mga nasa (around) P200 million,” BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD. Guballa told reporters on the sidelines of the 115th BIR anniversary on Thursday, adding that the revenue was generated from six POGO companies. He did not provide an estimate for the number of workers.
In early July, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the BIR will start collecting taxes that month from foreign workers employed by POGOs.
Mr. Dominguez has said the government foregoes revenue of about P2 billion a month for every 100,000 POGO workers that do not pay tax, amounting to P24 billion a year. — Beatrice M. Laforga
