SyCipLaw's Top 10 Tax Issues and Practical Solutions (T.I.P.S.) for 2022

January 13, 2023

SyCipLaw's Tax Department has listed down its Top 10 Tax Issues and Practical Solutions (T.I.P.S.) for 2022.

Please read the full text here or via this link.

The SyCipLaw's Top 10 Tax Issues and Practical Solutions (T.I.P.S.) for 2022 covers the following tax issues:

1. Filing of Requests for Confirmation, Tax Treaty Relief Applications, and Tax Sparing Applications Made Easy

2. RBE's VAT Zero-rating under CREATE

• Clarifications on Revenue Regulations No. 21-2021 on VAT zero-rated transactions under the CREATE Act
• What are the latest updates on the VAT rules under the CREATE Act and its implementing rules?
• Is there a prescribed format for the sworn declaration to be executed by RBEs to avail themselves of the VAT zero-rating on their local purchase of goods and services?

3. Can an officer of a corporation be held criminally liable for the corporation's failure to pay taxes solely on the basis of a letter to the BIR signed by such officer expressing the corporation's willingness to enter into a compromise?

4. May a taxpayer await the decision of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) on an administrative appeal of a denial of protest before filing a petition for review despite the issuance of the Preliminary Collection Letter, the Final Notice Before Seizure and the Warrant of Distraint and/or Levy?

5. Can the reversal of a Bureau of Internal Revenue ruling be given retroactive application if the same would be prejudicial to the taxpayer?

6. Does the Commissioner of Internal Revenue have a fresh or separate 180-day period to decide an administrative appeal (that is, a request for reconsideration of the denial by a representative of the Commissioner, of a taxpayer's protest against a tax assessment)?

7. Work-from-home Arrangement and Transfer of Registration of Registered Business Enterprises in the IT-BPM Sector

• Are RBEs in the Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) allowed to adopt a work-from-home arrangement beyond September 14, 2022?
• Can RBEs in the IT-BPM sector transfer their registration from the IPA administering an Ecozone or Freeport zone where their project is located, to the Board of Investments (BOI) without losing their tax incentives?
• What are the guidelines for the transfer of registration of RBEs in the IT-BPM sector from an IPA to the BOI?

8. Taxation of Equity-based Compensation

• Is equity-based compensation received by supervisory or managerial employees still taxed as fringe benefits?
• What are the guidelines on the procedures and requirements for the payment of taxes upon the exercise of equity-based compensation granted by employers to their employees?

9. For the sale of service (other than processing, manufacturing, or repacking of goods) to a foreign corporation doing business outside the Philippines to be considered a VAT zero-rated sale, does the relevant service agreement have to specifically state that the services are to be performed only in the Philippines?

10. Can corporate officers be held guilty of a violation of the Tariff and Customs Code for misdeclared, misclassified, and undervalued imported goods of the company?