POGO
PINABABANTAYAN ni House committee on ways and means chairman at Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda ang mga nagsasarang Philippine Offshore Gaming Corp., (POGO) dahil maaari na magpalit lamang umano ng pangalan ang mga ito upang matakasan ang buwis na kailangan nitong bayaran.
“POGOs will still be liable to the law, as withholding agents of their income tax liabilities. We should watch out for the operators of these POGOs, as closure may be used by some as a tactic to reopen under different declared ownership, with the real owners and operators being able to evade previous tax liabilities,” ani Salceda.
May mga POGO na nagsara na at nagpaplano umanong umalis sa bansa dahil sa pagbubuwis sa kanila.
Iginiit naman ni Salceda ang kahalagahan na maging malinaw ang batas ng pagbubuwis sa POGO na kumikita ng bilyon-bilyon.
“I emphasized then, when I filed the POGO tax bill, it is important that we codify POGO taxation so that avoiding tax liabilities becomes tax evasion, and that allows us a whole host of other implied powers — from the ability to issue hold-departure orders, to the ability to use law enforcement to investigate suspected illegal POGO activities,” saad ni POGO.
Sa kasalukuyang sistema, sinabi ni Salceda na ang Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., ay nagsisilbing middleman para sa franchise fee na ibinabayad ng POGO.
May mga nagsasabi na masyadong maliit ng buwis na ipinapataw sa mga POGO.