Malacañang vows to run after tax-delinquent Pogos
MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Thursday vowed to run after Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos) in the country that have failed to settle their taxes.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo issued the statement after a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) official, during a recent Senate hearing, bared that the majority of the 60 licensed Pogo firms failed to pay the government an estimated total of P50 billion in withholding income and franchise taxes in 2019.
“We’ll run after them. Very clear naman si Presidente doon, eh. No sacred cows in this government. You owe the government? We’ll run after you the way he did sa Philippine Airlines, Mighty Cigarette, water concessionaires,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.
“Walang sinisino si Presidente, eh. Basta nagkamali ka, meron kang transgression, hindi ka palulusutin,” he added.
On Tuesday, Atty. Sixto Dy Jr. from the BIR Office of the Deputy Commission for Operations revealed during a Senate labor committee hearing into the influx of illegal Pogo workers in the country that all foreign-based Pogo licensees are not paying their franchise tax.
In December last year, President Duterte gave tax-delinquent Pogos three days to pay their taxes, warning them of adverse consequences if they do not meet his “grace period.”Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier said Pogos had around P21.62 billion in unpaid taxes.
