The government has raked in P1.22 billion in revenues with the implementation of the recently enacted Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) tax law, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported over the weekend.
“Despite the pandemic, from Oct. 9, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021, the BIR has collected a total of P1.22 billion from offshore gaming licensees, their service providers and their employees,” the bureau said.
Republic Act 11590 or an Act Taxing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations took effect on October 9, 2021. Since then, the BIR said the POGO tax regime, which is a clear regulatory and taxation framework for POGOs and their employees, was implemented by the agency.
Broken down, the BIR said it collected P709.39 million in withholding taxes between October 9 and December 31, 2021, while P409.93 million came from POGOs’ gaming revenues and P89.67 million from income taxes.
The BIR also raised P5.33 million in value added tax and percentage tax, P4.96 million in other taxes and P3.34 million in documentary stamps tax.
“As we already have rules and regulations in place for the POGO industry, we expect POGO operations to continue and we foresee an increase in revenues arising from said activities,” the BIR said.
Last October, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said tax collection from POGOs is expected to hit P76.2 billion in 2022 to 2023.
Dominguez earlier estimated that P35.1 billion could be generated from the five percent tax on gross gaming revenues during the two-year period, while P41.2 billion from the 25 percent withholding tax on the gross income of foreign employees.
For the full-year of 2020, the BIR collected P7.18 billion from the sector. – Angela Celis
