New EVAT covers literary works and exemptions

Officers of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Revenue District Office No. 16 informed business operators in the city that the New Expanded Value Added Tax (EVAT) Law or RA 9337 will now levy the sale of literary works, musical compositions and similar artistic creations.  Not spared from the EVAT are the services rendered by artists, doctors of medicine duly registered with the Philippine Regulations Commission (PRC), and lawyers duly registered with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).  

In a forum hosted by ORO CHAMBER, Ms. Mariceline Daba, the Revenue Officer II of BIR, Revenue District Office No. 16 informed the 113 participants that even PAGCOR and its licensees and franchisees are covered by EVAT including the following transactions:   

• Toll road operations 
• Sale of electricity by generation, transmission and distribution companies
• Sale by electric cooperatives as well as importation of machine and equipments including spare parts
• Common carriers operation by air and sea relative to their transport of passengers from one place to another in the Philippines

Ms. Maricel Arthur of BIR provided the participating businessmen and accounting professionals with a rundown of VAT-exempt transactions e.g. Sale or importation of agricultural & marine food products in their original state, livestock and poultry for human consumption and breeding stock and genetic materials; Sale or importation of fertilizers, seeds, seedlings & fingerlings; Importation of personal/household effects belonging to Philippine residents returning from abroad and non-residents coming to resettle in the country; Services subject to Percentage taxes; Services of agricultural contract growers and milling for others of palay into rice, corn into grits and sugar cane into raw sugar; medical, dental, hospital and veterinary services except those rendered by professionals; Educational services rendered by private educational institutions, duly accredited by Deped, CHED and the TESDA and those rendered by government educational institutions; Services rendered by individuals pursuant to an employer-employee relationship; Transactions which are exempt under international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory; Sale by agricultural cooperatives duly registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) to their members; Gross receipts from lending activities by credit or multi-purpose cooperative duly registered and in good standing with the CDA; Export sales by persons who are not VAT registered and Lease of residential units with monthly rental per unit not exceeding Php 10,000 regardless of the amount of the aggregate rentals received by the lessor during the year.

Oro Chamber Vice President for the Trade and Commerce sector Mr. Tony Uy announced that another tax-related forum will be conducted sometime in March as part of the Effective Taxation Program of the Oro Chamber and partner non-government and government groups. 

The half-day VAT Forum was also supported by the Misamis Oriental Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MOFCCCI), Cagayan de Oro Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Parasat CableTV, BusinessWeek, Mindanao Current and Sunstar CDO.