The new bill that sets income and gaming taxes for online casinos operated from the Philippines will be approved by The House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.- The bill under which\u00a0Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO)<\/a>\u00a0must pay\u00a05 per cent tax on their gross gaming revenue\u00a0<\/strong>looks set to be approved with minor changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Department of Finance, one of the changes\u00a0will require all foreign POGO employees to have a tax identification number<\/strong>. The other change prevents the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport from issuing new POGO licences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the new bill, those licences that are currently registered will be under the purview of PAGCOR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The bill states that POGOs will have to pay 5 per cent on gross gaming revenue. Foreigners employed in online casinos and their service providers must pay 25 per cent income tax<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n POGOs<\/a> brought in US$149.4m in tax payments last year<\/strong> despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting departure of many firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, House Ways and Means Committee <\/strong>believes that under the new bill, the government could collect PHP13.4bn (US$266.6m) in its first year of implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, the Philippines\u2019 lower chamber\u00a0tried to impose a 5 per cent franchise tax on overall turnover<\/a>\u00a0for POGOs, but online gambling operators began leaving the country. The\u00a0tax changes\u00a0<\/strong>were finally\u00a0suspended in January<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>following a petition to the Supreme Court from foreign gaming groups, but\u00a0<\/strong>they were\u00a0<\/strong>reintroduced in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to PAGCOR\u2019s website, the number of POGO licence holders that are currently operating is just 40<\/strong>, compared with 61 before the Covid crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, three operators in Manila were granted licences for local online casino platforms<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has said that he allowed\u00a0online gambling<\/a>\u00a0because the country needs money to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPOGOs are returning to the Philippines<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n