By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

NEGOTIATIONS between the Philippines and Hong Kong on a double taxation agreement (DTA) are expected to close in October, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said.

“It looks like the negotiations will move quickly. We’re optimistic that by October, most of the substantial parts will be completed, and the next step will be the signing,” BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. told BusinessWorld on June 11.

The agreement aims to eliminate double taxation on income earned in the two countries.

The first round of negotiations for the Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement was conducted from May 21 to 23 in Hong Kong.

The BIR said the inaugural round of negotiations saw both sides engage in “constructive discussions and exchange views on key provisions of the proposed treaty.”

These included mechanisms to prevent double taxation, tax relief measures, and frameworks for mutual cooperation between the two tax authorities, it added.

“The discussion went fairly well. The main issue is really just understanding where each country is coming from,” Mr. Lumagui said. 

“Of course, Hong Kong has a different tax regime, and the Philippines has its own — that’s all. We’re also looking at what we can offer and what needs to be done — so far, we’ve been able to reach agreements smoothly.” 

The Philippines has around 44 double taxation agreements with various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Germany, China, Canada, Australia.

The Philippines and Cambodia signed a DTA last February, after three rounds of negotiations.

John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies urged the BIR to find balance in attracting investment, protecting the tax base, and aligning with global standards on tax transparency when negotiating the agreement.

“BIR should prioritize safeguarding Philippine taxing rights while promoting cross-border trade and investment,” Mr. Rivera told BusinessWorld on Thursday. 

He also cited the strong anti-abuse and information exchange provisions to prevent tax evasion, fair allocation of taxing rights on income like dividends and royalties as key areas of priority in drafting the DTA.

Mr. Rivera said the deal should also include “updated rules on digital services and permanent establishments; clear dispute resolution mechanisms; and safeguards to protect overseas Filipino workers and micro, small, and medium enterprises from double taxation.”

TAX AMNESTY DEADLINE
Meanwhile, the BIR moved the deadline for the filing, approval and payment of estate tax amnesty application to June 16.

“Again, the deadline is June 14, which falls on a Saturday. Since it’s a Saturday, we’re moving it to the next working day, which is Monday. So, the deadline for filing and payment of the estate tax application will be June 16,” Mr. Lumagui told reporters on June 11.

The BIR also extended the banking hours of Authorized Agent Banks up to 5 p.m. for the availment of the estate tax amnesty.

Under the Republic Act No. 11956, the law extended the period for availing estate tax amnesty for another two years or until June 14, 2025, from the previous deadline of June 15, 2023.

This grants beneficiaries, transferees, or legal heirs sufficient time to settle taxes on inherited assets, particularly for estates of individuals who passed away on or before May 31, 2022.

For those applying, the BIR said one must have a duly accomplished and sworn Estate Tax Amnesty Return and Acceptance Payment Form with proof of payment, together with the complete documentary requirements, in triplicate copies.

“Failure to submit the same is tantamount to non-availment of the Estate Tax Amnesty and any payment made may be applied against the total regular estate tax due inclusive of penalties,” it said.

Mr. Lumagui said the process still cannot be done online unlike the annual income tax return filings.

“We need to ensure that all the requirements for availing of the estate tax amnesty are met. This isn’t like regular tax filings. That’s why the process is manual — because the documents need to be thoroughly evaluated for completeness,” he said. 

An 6% estate tax amnesty rate will be imposed on each decedent’s total net taxable estate at the time of death without penalties at every stage of transfer of property, the BIR said.

Last year, the Department of Finance proposed to raise the estate tax rate to 10% from 2025 to 2030, as part of its Government Revenues Optimization through Wealth Tax Harmonization (GROWTH) bill. It also proposed to revert the rate to 6% starting in 2031.

The proposal to replace the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act with GROWTH bill was later withdrawn in April.

THE PHILIPPINES jumped five spots in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to 20^th out of 148 countries and retained its position as the highest-ranking Southeast Asian country.

“Compared to the previous year, the economy has climbed five positions in the ranking, with a 0.2-percentage-point increase in its overall gender parity score,” the WEF said in a report released on Thursday.

The Philippines had a score of 78.1%, well above the average global gender gap score of 68.8% and Eastern Asia and the Pacific average of 69.4%. A parity score of 100 indicates full parity, while the gender gap is the distance from full parity.

The country had the highest ranking among Southeast Asian economies, followed by Singapore (47^th), Thailand (66^th), Vietnam (74^th), Timor-Leste (86^th), Laos (96^th), Indonesia (97^th), Cambodia (106^th), Brunei (107^th) and Malaysia (108^th). Myanmar was not included in the study.

The Philippines remained in third spot in the Eastern Asia and the Pacific region, behind New Zealand (5^th) and Australia (13^th).

The WEF’s Global Gender Gap Index grades four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

According to the report, the Philippines scored 79% in the economic participation and opportunity subindex this year, the highest in Eastern Asia and the Pacific and 13^th globally.

“In 2025, slight improvements in the scores for wage equality and estimated earned income have brought its economic parity score to 79%, the highest in Eastern Asia and the Pacific this year,” it said.

It achieved full parity when it comes to professional and technical workers.

In the educational attainment subindex, the Philippines dropped to 87^th spot from last year’s first place, when it achieved full parity.

This subindex includes literacy rate, enrollment rate in primary, secondary, tertiary education.

“Despite strong performances in educational attainment, the gender parity in education has slightly declined. For the first time, the primary school net enrollment rate for boys surpasses that of girls, resulting in a 1.2-percentage-point drop in the education parity score from previous years of full parity,” WEF said.

The report showed the Philippines had gender parity in the literacy rate, as well as enrollment in secondary education and tertiary education.

For political empowerment, the Philippines improved from 30^th place from 34^th last year.

This subindex includes women in parliament, ministerial positions, years with female or male head of state.

“The Philippines’s political parity score is buoyed by nearly 16 years of female leadership under Presidents Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This contributes to a 46.2% score in the head-of-state indicator, the second highest in the region,” the WEF said.

Despite this, progress in female representation in parliament is described as “modest” with a score of 38.9%.

“The score for ministerial positions has declined to 21.1% in 2025, down from over 30% in both 2006-2007 and 2023,” it added.

For the health and survival sub-index, the Philippines rose a notch to 85^th spot this year.

“The Philippines has faced growing sex imbalances at birth over the past decade. The sex ratio at birth (females to males) has declined from 0.944 in 2016 to 0.926 in 2025,” the WEF said.

Reinielle Matt M. Erece, an economist at Oikonomia Advisory and Research, Inc., said the Philippines’ improved ranking in the gender parity report was mainly driven by gains in wage equality, but noted that the “country still has a long way to go.”

“This is a good indicator of improvements in job opportunities and reduction of gender discrimination,” Mr. Erece said in a Viber message to BusinessWorld on Thursday.

However, he pointed out that female enrollment in primary education remains below 90%. “Thus, improvements in education accessibility and also childhood health are equally important to ensure that students have proper access to education,” he added. 

Mr. Erece also urged the government to improve the quality of education to help reduce dropout rates, especially among female students.

In the report, the WEF said that no economy has yet achieved full gender parity.

Iceland ranked first with a score of 92.6%, keeping the top spot for 16 consecutive years. It is the only economy to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap since 2022.

The rest of the top 10 include Finland, Norway, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, Moldova, Namibia, Germany and Ireland.

“Despite decades of progress, efforts to achieve gender parity remain constrained, imposing a hidden but heavy tax on global growth and weakening the foundations of economic resilience — expressed in underutilized talent, lost productivity, slower innovation and frayed social cohesion,” WEF said.

“As the global context evolves, challenges and opportunities emerge for economies that seek to close gender gaps and adopt gender parity as a strategy for growth: expanding women’s participation in the workforce, strengthening leadership pipelines, improving skills-to-work transitions, enhancing policy implementation, and ensuring inclusive outcomes in global trade.” — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante