|
By Efren L. Danao, Senior
Reporter
Sen. Francis Escudero on Monday
said it appears that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor)
has not paid about P1 billion in franchise tax to the government.
Escudero, the chairman of the
Senate Committee on Ways and Means, said the initial finding of his
committee showed that Pagcor has a different interpretation from the
government on the application of the 5-percent franchise tax on
Pagcor-licensed casinos.
“Pagcor has the sole franchise
to conduct gaming in the country so the franchise tax should apply
also to all gross revenues derived by its licensees, partners,
agents and assign” he added.
Escudero said he could not
understand why Pagcor could not agree with the government’s
interpretation and why Pagcor should still question its payment of
franchise tax and value-added tax.
“The government is hounding the
private sector to pay the proper tax but here is a wholly-owned
government corporation that is debating with the government on how
much tax it should pay. This is not right,” he added.
Escudero explained that besides
the franchise tax, dividend income corresponding to the
participation of the private sector and derived from casino and
gambling operations is also subject to a final income-tax rate of 10
percent in lieu of the regular income-tax rates The law creating
Pagcor, however, exempts such dividend income from income or other
forms of taxes under certain strict conditions of investment.
The Senate Committee on Ways and
Means is looking into the Pagcor remittances to the Bureau of
Internal Revenue to determine what legislation is needed to improve
tax collection and administration.
Escudero claimed that Pagcor has
not been transparent on its income, thus making it impossible to
determine if it has been paying the proper and correct taxes to the
government. He cited an admission by the Department of Finance and
the Department of Budget and Management that Pagcor has been
negligent in submitting its income statements to them.
He said there were reports that
Pagcor had not submitted these documents because it could not
justify its remittances to the government once compared with its
income statement and those of its licensees and partners. He noted
that there are differences between the figures of Pagcor and
Fontana, a Pagcor-licensed casino in the Clark Economic Zone in
Pampanga province.
|
