Senior executives from Netflix have expressed strong support for a pending VAT bill on foreign digital services, which aims to level the playing field between local and international providers.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto met with Netflix officials Davy Chen and Shangari Kiruppalini to discuss the bill, which imposes a 12% VAT on digital services from companies without a physical presence in the Philippines, such as Netflix, Disney, and HBO.
The bill, recently approved by Congress, requires these providers to register for VAT if their annual gross sales exceed PHP 3 million and introduces a simplified registration system managed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Netflix executives praised the measure for promoting fairness and enhancing government revenue, which is estimated to reach PHP 20 billion annually.
Recto assured the executives of the government’s commitment to supporting industry growth while noting that the VAT could generate approximately PHP 83.8 billion in revenue over five years.
Source : PhilNews24 | August 22, 2024
