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STATE-RUN Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) may be
underreporting its income, thus its taxes, according to a government
think-tank.
In a report, Lina Isorena, National Tax Research
Center (NTRC) executive director, said income from all forms of
gaming and gambling should form part of Pagcor’s gross revenues on
which the 5-percent franchise tax and 50 percent government share
are based.
At present, Pagcor computes the 5-percent
franchise tax and 50-percent government share based only on winnings
from table games and from slot machines in 13 Casino Filipino
branches. The state gaming firm is also into bingo operations as
well as Internet gaming, chip washing operations and licensing of
privately owned operations.
“There is an urgent need to evaluate and
define the sources of income on which the franchise tax and the
50-percent government share are based,” Isorena said.
NTRC also recommended that Pagcor strictly pay
corporate income tax and value-added tax (VAT).
Based on its latest report, Pagcor posted a net
income of P1.648 billion in 2006, doubling the P779.740 million in
2005.Total income rose to P24.306 billion from P23.403 billion over
the same period.
The bulk of the income came from business income
amounting to P21.576 billion mostly from winnings and bingo
operations.
The rest consisted of other income at P942,432
from casinos and SM demo units.
Pagcor turned in P11.976 billion in 2006 to the
national coffers, from P11.953 billion in 2005.
The Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering
earlier said that casino operations are considered a possible site
for money-laundering transaction.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is
pushing for the inclusion of casino operations in the list of
covered transactions under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).
The covered institutions under AMLA include
banks, their affiliates and subsidiaries, insurance firms,
securities dealers, pre-need firms, foreign exchange corporations,
foreign exchange dealers, moneychangers and remittance agents.
-- Maricel E. Burgonio
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