Another POGO closed for failing to pay taxes

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III ordered the closure of all POGOs and their service providers which failed to settle their tax liabilities

Philippines.- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) closed New Oriental Club88 Corporation (NOCC), a company serving Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) after they failed paying taxes.

NOCC is registered as a customer relations service provider and live studio streaming provider. The reason is that the Parañaque offices were not registered with the BIR’s district office.

BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Group Arnel Guballa served the closure order and padlocked the NOCC branches in the city. “They will not be allowed to resume business unless deficiencies are corrected and the estimated PHP1 billion tax debts paid,” she declared.

NOCC employed 23,156 foreigners as of end-2018. Most of them are Chinese, according to a list of alien employment permit applications available online.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III ordered the closure of all POGOs and their service providers which failed to settle their tax liabilities. This came after the BIR reported that POGO firms were slow to pay ₱21.62 billion in cumulative tax dues demanded from 130 operators and service providers.

The Department of Finance estimates ₱2 billion in withholding taxes due from foreigners working in the POGO industry.