BIR Concerns

[in_style]

i'm not sure if there is a thread about tax concerns (i looked and there seems to be none),

so i am opening this one. i hope there are members who either work for BIR or there

are finance people who are experts about the much controversial topic of taxes.

 

it's always in the news... vat, wht, e-vat, entertainment tax and all. once in awhile,

BIR comes out with news articles in the dailies explaining lengthily what these taxes are.

i personally wish the explanation is brought down to simple words that can be understood

by the common people. what are these taxes for? why does the rates keep on moving up?

more importantly, how do we compute these taxes? before, vat was computed as 10%

of the total amount. is it still the same? what about the entertainment tax? the people from

television and movies pay wht and entertainment tax?

 

i am opening this thread hoping that some good souls there can shed light to simple

tax questions that we have.

 

thanks.

[in_style]

my first question or request....

 

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TAXES THAT IS BEING APPLIED

TO THE PEOPLE?

[Flamingbullet®]

lahat na yata ng klaseng tax meron na.... haaaaay

[Wallstreet]

exacto!

[jeckyl]

Death and taxes are the two things certain in our life, according to B. Franklin. Our tax system is so much simpler than most others. While we have less than 300 articles, that of U.S. at one time had over 10,000.

 

The major tax is on income and the next big one, on the other hand is a tax on the consumption, VAT. Then, there are percentage taxes on various articles of commerce from fuel, beer, telephones, transport among others. Then there's the stamp tax on documents.

 

Taxes are paid here in self-assessment basis which means you do your own comp*tation of your own liability with the government reserving its right to audit you later. BIR is going towards advance collection of the tax due through withholding taxes. Withholding taxes may be final or creditable. For final withholding, no additional taxes need to be paid. While in case of creditable you may either add payment or even refund the taxes you have already paid.

 

That's not even all the taxes collected by BIR and yet it is not only the BIR that collects taxes, the Bureau of Customs, the local government units from the barangays to the big cities get to have their piece of the pie.

 

As in many other countries, most Filipinos resort to evasion in reducing tax liabilities but with the seemingly relentless efforts of the BIR and DOF against tax evasion and corruption, would be tax evaders should have a serious rethink.

[JhoyLkTian]

Death and taxes are the two things certain in our life, according to B. Franklin. Our tax system is so much simpler than most others. While we have less than 300 articles, that of U.S. at one time had over 10,000.

 

The major tax is on income and the next big one,  on the other hand is a tax on the consumption, VAT. Then, there are percentage taxes on various articles of commerce from fuel, beer, telephones, transport among others. Then there's the stamp tax on documents.

 

Taxes are paid here in self-assessment basis which means you do your own comp*tation of your own  liability with the government reserving its right to audit you later. BIR is going towards advance collection of the tax due through withholding taxes. Withholding taxes may be final or creditable. For final withholding, no additional taxes need to be paid. While in case of creditable you may either add payment or even refund the taxes you have already paid.

 

That's not even all the taxes collected by BIR and yet it is not only the BIR that collects taxes, the Bureau of Customs, the local government units from the barangays to the big cities get to have their piece of the pie.

 

As in many other countries, most Filipinos resort to evasion in reducing tax liabilities but with the seemingly relentless efforts of the BIR and DOF against tax evasion and corruption, would be tax evaders should have a serious rethink.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes I agree! But BIR and DOF should be more serious in their efforts and not only run after the low key persons but also the high profiles who have over the years been running away from their obligations.

 

To add on, we also have Transfer Taxes such as Estates and Donors Taxes. These are levied on the transfers of properties from one person to another. A person in this case may either be juridical or natural.

[centrino]

Ako talagang naiiyak tuwing maikita ko kung gano kalaking tax ang kinakaltas sakin tuwing payroll. Tapos ang laging bukang bibig ngayon eh MASA MASA MASA!!! :grr: MASA na kahit singko eh hindi nagbababayad ng Tax!!! :grr: :grr:

 

Tapos kikikilan ka pa ng mga ganid na pulis at MMDA na Tax mo din ang nagpapasweldo :grr: :grr: :grr: Tax nang buhay 'to oh! :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[shmilyso]

grabe! ang hirap mag-negosyo...ang EWT now is 15% na, Expanded Withholding Tax ata...imagine mo gano kalaki ang binabayaran ng mga negosyante sa BIR...bukod sa EWT na 'to, meron pang VAT, monthly, quarterly at annual...anong pang matitira nyan...

[JhoyLkTian]

grabe! ang hirap mag-negosyo...ang EWT now is 15% na, Expanded Withholding Tax ata...imagine mo gano kalaki ang binabayaran ng mga negosyante sa BIR...bukod sa EWT na 'to, meron pang VAT, monthly, quarterly at annual...anong pang matitira nyan...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

EWT of 15-% are for professionals whose annual income exceeds P720,000. EWT is an advance form of tax payment on the part of self-employed individuals, professionals, brokers, and corporations falling under certain categories.

[RollsRoyce]

True, baka wala talagang maiwan sa atin kung nagnenegosyo tayo. But let's look at the cummulative effect of taxes in our wages/bottom line:

 

(this is a very rough estimate)

 

Income taxes - 32% (which is being ammended to 35%) - gov't takes its cut before we ever get hold of it

VAT - 10% (whenever we buy goods/services, we actually pay it especially with EVAT)

Realty Taxes/ Licenses / Permits / etc. - say total from 5 to 8% of our salaries.

 

This means that we pay almost half of our salaries to taxes.... and yet we have no decent gov't service what so ever to talk about.

 

No wonder a lot of our kababayans are going to Canada eventhough taxes there are high. They see the results of the taxes.

 

but there is a way in avoiding taxes in the Philippines. You just have to look at the industries which are not that heavily taxed.

 

One is agriculture in its basic form. So there are a lot of fishpen owners, hog raisers, farmers etc. who get rich because taxes don't affect them that much.

 

Are there any other industries not affected?

[Fî$hKęŊ]

RollsRoyce, you got it right....

 

 

we pay taxes...wala naman tayo napapala...

[vent536]

True, baka wala talagang maiwan sa atin kung nagnenegosyo tayo. But let's look at the cummulative effect of taxes in our wages/bottom line:

 

(this is a very rough estimate)

 

Income taxes - 32% (which is being ammended to 35%) - gov't takes its cut before we ever get hold of  it

VAT              - 10% (whenever we buy goods/services, we actually pay it especially with EVAT)

Realty Taxes/ Licenses / Permits / etc. - say total from 5 to 8% of our salaries.

 

This means that we pay almost half of our salaries to taxes.... and yet we have no decent gov't service what so ever to talk about.

 

No wonder a lot of our kababayans are going to Canada eventhough taxes there are high. They see the results of the taxes.

 

but there is a way in avoiding taxes in the Philippines. You just have to look at the industries which are not that heavily taxed.

 

One is agriculture in its basic form. So there are a lot of fishpen owners, hog raisers, farmers etc. who get rich because taxes don't affect them that much.

 

Are there any other industries not affected?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

i agree on you... sa canada mataas ang mga taxes, at least they have free health care and other...

[shmilyso]

EWT of 15-% are for professionals whose annual income exceeds P720,000. EWT is an advance form of tax payment on the part of self-employed individuals, professionals, brokers, and corporations falling under certain categories.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

question po ulit...ano ba itong annual income na 720,000, net or gross? what if hindi naman accurate ang kinikita namin every month...we are engage in management service, minsan walang kita, minsan naman meron pero kung average mo, mga less than 20t a month, profit sharing kse ng isang convenience store, we manage & all the expenses are deducted to us, sa kanila 60% lang ng electric bill & 100% ng rent.

 

thanks in advance

[gabriel64]

Generally speaking, withholding taxes are like "advances" - i.e. they are collectible during the year and are intended to approximate the income tax of a person or corporation for that year. So, on April 15, when you file your ITR, you are supposed to indicate how much taxes were withheld from your income. If the taxes withheld from your income is higher than your income tax for the year, you are entitled to a refund. If the taxes withheld are less than the tax due, you have to pay the balance when you file the ITR.

 

Of course, getting a refund is difficult. You have to make sure your books are in order - you see, when you claim it, the BIR will audit you - so if you have loose ends, patay ka. However, refunds do happen - I know someone who has a tax credit certificate for P40,000,000.00 (fully transferrable).

 

If you work in a company, usually your accounting department takes care of the reporting. If you are a business owner, just make sure you get the Certificates of Creditable Tax Withheld at Source from your suppliers when they withhold from their payments to you. You will need to submit these to the BIR if you claim for a refund. You also have to attach these to your ITR.

[hemera]

Question ko lang about Meal allowances. Nagtataka lang ako kasi sa dati kong company, taxable cya dahil nga I computed yung nasa payslip ko. But then, they are also requiring us to submit a quarterly report which they submit to BIR. Hmmm...Di kaya nla submit ito as company expense as part of corporate expense? Is this legal? Or are we cheated? Kasi with my company before them and the company I work for now, Meal/Transpo allowance are NON-TAXABLE. I find it fishy na why do they have to make us submit a MATA report (which they submit to BIR) when they deducted the tax already..