Rep. Salceda to BIR: PH Tax Laws Must Adopt to Increasing Online Freelancers

Following the mass adoption of the work-from-home setup due to the pandemic, the already large volume of Filipinos choosing to go freelance has exponentially grown. As the global pandemic continues, more and more Filipinos are preferring the convenient setup of online freelance work rather than wasting time on traffic jams, congested roads, among others.

Rep. Joey Salceda explained in a meeting with the Department of Trade and Industry that the country’s tax rules should be revised to “catch up” with the rising number of freelance and online workers hired by companies overseas.

Freelance online workers talents who are directly hired by foreign firms and are not part of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.

According to him, online workers are being taxed by as much as 25 percent in other countries, though it may not be entirely applied in the case of Philippines’ rules, he emphasized that 

“Reforms (need) to catch up with the rapid changes in economic environments so that first, we will be able to assist and make our taxpayers into good taxpayers and at the same time participate in nation building,” Salceda expressed

He added that there are about a million virtual employees in the country. 

Meanwhile, Bureau of Internal Revenue Director—Larry Barcelo—noted that Filipino talents being taxed for working for US-based firms could file an exemption with the BIR.

“They can avail of our tax treaty relief by securing from the BIR a tax residency certificate, which they can present to the US tax authorities so they can avail of preferential rate under the treaty or exemption,” he said. 

This article is published on BitPinas: Rep. Salceda to BIR: PH Tax Laws Must Adopt to Increasing Online Freelancers

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