Taxes being paid, business not a health risk –PAGCOR services

A group of online gaming service providers on Monday reiterated that its members "dutifully" paid their required taxes to continue operating in the Philippines.

In a statement, the Accredited Service Providers Association of PAGCOR (ASPAP) said its members paid the required regulatory fees and the corporate and withholding taxes of their workers.

"We reiterate our unequivocal commitment to pay the appropriate tax dues imposed by the government prior to the limited reopening of the online gaming operators," said ASPAP spokesperson Atty. Margarita Gutierrez.

ASPAP issued their statement after Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel called on the government to collect the unpaid taxes of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) before taxing online retailers.

in July 2019, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III called on the department's line agencies to impose stricter measures to collect taxes from foreign workers who previously failed to pay their obligations.

The DOF has since cracked down on the industry and closed down POGOs found to have violated local tax laws.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez insisted that POGO service providers had been complying with tax laws even before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease.

"ASPAP members opted not to seek incentives or any tax breaks from government from the start," she claimed.

ASPAP also said the resumption of their business operations did not pose a health risk to the public.

"We wish to reassure our legislators and the public that resumption of PSP operations would not undermine quarantine protocols or pose unnecessary health risk to the community," Gutierrez said.

The government allowed POGOs to resume operations earlier than other businesses, even amid the strict quarantine protocols implemented due to the pandemic, provided that only 30 percent of the total workforce reported for work.  — DVM, GMA News