BIR, DOLE putting up database of foreign workers

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are planning to set up a database of all foreign nationals working in the country to effectively monitor their compliance in paying taxes, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Quoting Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay, the DOF said both agencies are crafting a joint memorandum circular on the issuance of work permits to foreign nationals.

The DOF said one of the salient points of the draft circular is the creation of an inter-agency database of foreign nationals working in the Philippines.

 “To effectively pursue our mandate (of taxing foreign workers), we need accurate data on foreigners working in the Philippines,” Dulay said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez during a recent DOF executive committee meeting.

 “Revisions were made (to the draft joint memorandum circular) to develop an inter-agency database to be administered by the DOLE,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dulay also reported that several of the 15,176 foreign nationals working in 174 establishments — most of which are Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) — initially thought to be to be unregistered were found by the BIR to have the proper working permits and visas.

“DOLE was informed of these findings,” Dulay said.

The government is monitoring closely foreign workers in the country ensure that they are paying the correct taxes.

In line with this, the government created an inter-agency task force which is tasked to list down and reconcile the number of alien workers in the country.

Dominguez said this is necessary to accomplish the goal of coming up with an accurate database of taxable foreign nationals in the Philippines.

The finance chief also said that while the government is currently focusing on POGOs, the BIR’s enforcement measures should cover all working foreign nationals.