How PSEi member stocks performed — January 9, 2019
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.
Philippine Stock Exchange’s most active stocks by value turnover — January 9, 2019.
CTA upholds P26.07-M VAT refund for P&G
THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) affirmed a P26.07-million partial tax refund it awarded to Procter and Gamble Asia, Pte. Ltd. (P&G) for its unutilized excess input value-added tax (VAT) attributable to zero-rated sales for the second half of 2005.
In a Jan. 3 resolution, the CTA special second division denied the motion for partial reconsideration of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for lack of merit.
In its motion, BIR claimed that the documentary exhibits, invoices official receipts, credit notes, certifications of inward remittances, Business Service Agreements and other documents it presented for a tax refund are “hearsay evidence,” claiming the witnesses who identified the documentary evidence “allegedly had no personal knowledge and participation in the participation and execution of the same.”
However, the court said the BIR only raised the argument in its supplemental memorandum whereas it should have objected to the documentary evidence of P&G within 15 days upon receipt of formal evidence as stated in the Rules of Court. “However, despite notice, respondent filed no comment or opposition to petitioner’s formal offer of evidence.”
Assuming that the BIR registered its opposition in a timely manner, the CTA noted that the witnesses of the petitioners “were able to sufficiently identify the documents alleged by respondent to be hearsay evidence.”
“Hence, the Court finds no cogent reason to modify or reverse the assailed Amended Decision,” the court said.
The BIR also claimed P&G’s invoices and official receipts failed to comply with the mandatory invoicing requirements under the Tax Code as they did not indicate in full the required information and therefore lacked “probative value and must be treated as immaterial and irrelevant.”
“At the outset, the Court notes that respondent’s motion shows that it merely repeats the arguments found in his supplemental memorandum. Moreover, he did not specifically indicate the invoices and official receipts which allegedly failed to comply with the mandatory invoicing requirements,” the court said.
P&G initially claimed unutilized input VAT due to zero-rated sales amounting to P53.62-million for the periods July to October 2005 and October to December 2005.
However, the CTA special second division in an amended decision on Sept. 6 partially granted the refund claim as P&G only substantiated its entitlement of refund claim in the amount of P26.07-million.
According to the Tax Code, claimants for zero-rated sales must be VAT-registered, the input taxes were not applied to any output VAT liability, and the claims were filed within the prescribed period of two years after the close of the quarter.
Sales of services that are zero-rated according to the Tax Code should be other than processing, manufacturing or repackaging of goods, must be paid for in an acceptable foreign currency and delivered to businesses outside the Philippines. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
DTI hoping to ramp up halal certifications for SEA Games
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is pushing to boost halal certification in the restaurant industry ahead of the 30th Southeast Asian Games late this year.
“We are expecting more than 48,000 athlete-visitors. Some 50% will be from our Muslim neighbors in Southeast Asia… We need to be proactive in serving their dining needs,” DTI Undersecretary for Special Concerns Abdulgani M. Macatoman told reporters on the sidelines of the Muslims Entrepreneurs Forum held in San Juan City on Wednesday.
Mr. Macatoman said the lack of halal-certified restaurants is a common complaint from Muslim tourists.
He said the Philippines lags Asian neighbors like Thailand, Singapore and South Korea in positioning itself as a Muslim-friendly country.
Mr. Macatoman said the lack of expertise in Halal-approved butchering and food preparation is the central problem that keeps Muslim Filipinos from expanding the industry.
“The Philippines has a Muslim population of about 10 million.
The government is also hoping to capture a piece of the $3.2 trillion global halal market.
The government has also been launching a series of workshops to help educate and promote opportunities in the halal industry across the globe while clinching deals with Muslim states that will help local businesses penetrate foreign markets.
Republic Act 10817 or the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Act of 2016 tasks the DTI with strengthening the country’s ability to service global demand for quality halal products and services. — Janina C. Lim
Telecommuting
You go to a search engine and type the word telecommuting and you will find various sources with definition of the term. One source offers a straightforward description of “work from home, making use of the Internet, e-mail and the telephone.” Another source describes it as a work arrangement in which employees do not commute or travel to a central place of work, such as an office building, warehouse, or store.
Majority of us at work have to leave home five times a week and spend at least eight hours a day in a workplace, whether it is a business office, commercial store, government agency, school, and other physical setup. It is just how work is as we know it — people who belong to a company or organization who share physical office to get the job done spend their day traveling to and from work.
This concept of telecommuting is a young one that traces its beginnings in the 1970s in the US. A source cited that in the US alone, there are more than “3.9 million employees who make up 2.9% of the total workforce work from home at least half of the time. There has been a 115% increase in telecommuting between 2005 to 2015 (up from 1.8 million in 2005).”
What makes telecommuting attractive? This particular practice affords workers flexible work option that contributes to the worker’s morale and productivity. Studies have shown that “people are happier and healthier when they have some control over their work lives.” Work flexibility also reduces burnout and stress among workers.
Needless to say, telecommuting is eco-friendly since workers do not need to burn fuel to go to work either as car drivers or vehicle passengers. It is also said to be more cost-effective in terms of time, money spent on transport and food and other travel-related expenses on the part of the workers. On the part of the office, they can save from office rental and all the attendant expenses in providing workspace to employees. It also allows employers to work with talent regardless of location.
But then, not all kinds of work are suitable to telecommuting. “Many client-facing jobs, for example, require employees to be in the office for meetings; some sales jobs require a more personal level of communication and some more manual jobs require equipment that employees just don’t have at home.”
Since you do not have a physical workplace, you have to motivate yourself to work and not slacken with your output. You may also be facing the prospect of working round the clock since you can be accessed on demand by the office.
Regardless, telecommuting has found champions and adherents since the advent of technology and the realization of providing work-life harmony and creative opportunities for workers to be given flexibility in how they do work, are important things to be managed and addressed in the workplace.
Here in our country, there is already a House Bill 7402 (the Telecommuting Act) and Senate Bill 1363 (the Telecommuting Act of 2017) which both aim to “enhance the protection and promotion of (the rights and welfare of) workers engaged in telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements.” The DoLE is tasked to come up with a pilot program to test its implementation before full adoption in the country.
Aside from the benefits cited, for many in the metropolis besieged by traffic commuting daily to and from work, this development is like a whiff of fresh opportunity to continue to engage in productive work without being hampered by the stress and aggravation that commuting entails.
Dennis L. Berino is an associate professorial lecturer of the Decision Sciences and Innovation Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University.
dennis.berino@dlsuedu.ph