Sa gitna ng VAT sa foreign DSPs: Pagtaas sa monthly subscriptions, ‘minimal’ lang -BIR

MAAARING asahan ng publiko ang ‘minimal’ price increase sa kanilang monthly subscriptions.

Kasunod ito ng paglagda sa batas na magpapataw ng value-added tax sa foreign digital service providers.

Sa press briefing sa Malakanyang, tinanong kasi si Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. kung mararanasan ng mga consumers ang price increase sa kanilang monthly subscriptions kasunod ng pagpirma sa bagong batas.

Ang naging tugon ni Lumagui ay depende ito sa service providers, sakali man aniya ay ‘minimal’ lamang ito sa oras na magdesisyon sila na itaas ang bayad.

”As to whether magkakaroon ng price increase, it does not necessarily follow… of course, it will also depend… it’s a business decision by the service providers but again, nag-aano naman ‘yan eh, nagbabayad naman talaga dapat sila from the very beginning so they should have incorporated that,” ayon kay Lumagui.

”Puwedeng magkaroon ng price increase but again I think it would be minimal. hindi naman ‘yan 12% automatically magi-increase sila, also commensurate the same rate,” aniya pa rin.

Kumpiyansa naman si Lumagui na makokontrol ng non-resident digital service ang price increase upang sa gayon ay hindi mawala ang kanilang mga subscribers.

”So, in the end if they will increase their prices by so much they will also lose their customers at the same time – so, I’m sure they will not do that, it’s not a wise business decision that’s why they will also implement and they will also control their price increase because they will lose subscribers. So, in that sense, that’s economics working as a protection of the prices,” ang paliwanag ni Lumagui.

Sinabi pa ni Lumagui na wala namang dapat na ipag-alala ang publiko ukol sa bagong batas dahil “this will equalize the playing field between registered and paying digital service providers as well as the foreign ones.”

Nauna rito, pormal na nilagdaan ni Pangulong Marcos ang Republic Act No. 12023 o VAT on Digital Services Act.

Sinabi ng Chief Executive na walang bagong batas ang ipapataw kasunod ng pagpirma sa batas.

“The new law strengthens the BIR’s authority to collect value-added tax on digital transactions and clarifies how the DSPs can comply with the VAT requirements imposed under the National Internal Revenue Code,” ang sinabi ni Lumagui.

”This is a welcome support for the bureau’s efforts to collect what is due to the government. Digital service providers render services subject to value-added tax during their trade or business much like their counterparts in the brick-and-mortar’s establishments,” ang paliwanag nito.

”This law promotes fair competition ensuring that both local and foreign DSPs compete on equal footing, and in doing so, we create a more competitive market place where consumers will ultimately benefit from improved services and fairer pricing,” aniya pa rin.

Samantala, sinabi ng Department of Finance, na ngayon at nasa ayos na ang VAT sa foreign digital service providers, inaasahan na makakakolekta na ang gobyerno ng P102.12 billion mula 2025 hanggang 2029. (Daris Jose)