Philippines, Brunei ink pact on double taxation

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has signed an agreement with its Southeast Asian neighbor Brunei Darussalam to remove double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion in a bid to improve the flow of trade and investments between the two countries.

The Philippines and Brunei on Friday concluded two decades of negotiations on double taxation agreement or DTA to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the DTA would remove bottlenecks in the process of trade in goods and services between the two countries.

Dominguez said the DTA should create jobs for Filipinos living in either countries, as the deal would encourage investors to locate in the Philippines and provide work opportunities to migrants in Brunei.

“This agreement serves us well as we bounce back from the ravages of the global health crisis. It will further ease trade in goods and services between our two countries,” Dominguez said in a speech during the signing at Bandar Seri Begawan.

“It will also strengthen our economic cooperation and enhance investment flows and economic activity across our borders,” he said.

Aside from the expected benefits on trade and investments, Dominguez said the DTA may lead to the transfer of technology and skills between the Philippines and Brunei.

As such, Dominguez vowed the DOF would work with its finance counterparts in Brunei in building collaboration between tax regulators and enforcing the DTA and fiscal laws.