THE chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Monday said he included a 5-percent “franchise tax” in the draft bill imposing gaming and corporate taxes on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo).
In an interview, Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda said Pogos in the country shall be registered as resident corporations as basis for their taxability.
“Pogo tax will be a tax on licensees of Pagcor [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.] as government-owned gaming monopoly and a tax on gambling. Essentially a 5-percent franchise tax [based on their annual revenues],” Salceda said.
The lawmaker said his bill will be adopted as the version of the Department of Finance (DOF).
Currently, Salceda said there are 52 registered Pogo hubs in the country.
Also, the lawmaker said the bill will include a $10,000 monthly gaming tax per table “for live setup casino” in hubs.
For gaming operators with more than 100 random number generator-based (RNG) games, Salceda said a $5,000 monthly gaming tax per game will be imposed for the first 100 games and additional $3,000 monthly in excess of the first 100 games.
Also, Salceda said a 2-percent gaming tax
will be imposed on the gross gaming revenue of 28-registered interactive game
operators, while $10,000 per month tax
gaming tax for sports betting.
Salceda said these taxes are needeed to reduce the systemic risk of the Pogo industry to the Philippine economy.
These gaming taxes, he added, will be added to $1,000 presumptive corporate income tax per seat that will be also imposed on Pogo operators.
According to Salceda, the Pogo industry contributes 1.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product.
Salceda said his bill is the best measure “to control the potential wild gyrations” of Pogo in the Philippines.
He added the lower chamber wants the Bureau of Internal Revenue to collect at least P76 billion from withholding tax.
Salceda said the bill will also formally ask the Banko Sentral Pilipinas to include Pogo as a separate item in the balance of payment account under service exports.
Citing its initial list, the DOF said there are some 138,000 foreigners working in Pogos, while 54,241 of whom have been given alien employment permits and another 83,760 holding special working permits.