Here is a quick information on two recent laws:
>>Republic Act 12023 (VAT on Digital Services)
This law amends the National Internal Revenue Code making it clear that persons providing digital services, whether resident or nonresident, are liable to assess, collect, and remit VAT.
“Digital service” is any service supplied over the internet or other electronic network with the use of information technology and where the supply of service is essentially automated. This includes online search engine, online marketplace or e-marketplace, cloud service, online media and advertising, online platforms, and digital goods.
A VAT-registered nonresident digital service provider must issue a digital sales or commercia invoice for every sale, barter, or exchange of digital services. This invoice must indicate the date of transaction, transaction reference number, identification of consumer, brief description of the transaction, and the total amount with the indication that such amount includes VAT.
If a person who provides digital services fails to register with the BIR, its operation may be suspended. The BIR’s power to suspend include the blocking of digital services performed or rendered in the country.
>> Republic Act 12022 (Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act)
An economic sabotage in agriculture is any act or activity that disrupts the economy by creating artificial shortage, promoting excessive importation, manipulating prices and supply, evading payment or underpayment of tariffs and customs duties, threatening local production and food security, gaining excessive or exorbitant profits by exploiting situations, creating scarcity, and entering into agreements that defeat fair competition.
The following acts are prohibited:
Agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage. There is agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage when the value of each, or of the combination of, agricultural and fishery products smuggled by a person is at least PHP10 million computed using the daily price index at the time the crime was committed. It is committed through certain acts, such as (i) importing agricultural or fishery products without import clearance; (ii) using another’s import clearance; (iii) using fake import clearance, shipping or other transport documents; (iv) using dummy corporations or NGOs to acquire import clearance; (v) knowing transporting or storing smuggled agricultural or fishery products; etc.
Agricultural hoarding as economic sabotage. This is committed when someone has stocks of agricultural and fishery products in excess of 30% of his/her normal inventory level 10 days after declaration of an abnormal situation or an emergency or state of calamity.
Within 10 days from declaration of abnormal situation, emergency, or state of calamity, all persons must sell to the public their stocks in excess of their normal inventory level.
If the business is in existence for more than a year, the normal inventory level is the average inventory for the 24-month period before the declaration of abnormal situation, emergency, or state of calamity.
Agricultural profiteering as economic sabotage. This is the sale or offer for sale of agricultural and fishery products at a price at least 10% in excess of the daily price index, at the time of the declaration of abnormal situation, emergency, or state of calamity.
This does not apply to (i) retailers who purchase goods from wholesalers, importers, or producers, and directly sell in smaller quantities to the general public; (ii) cooperative stores with capitalization not exceeding PHP200,000; and (iii) farmers and fisherfolk selling their own harvest, produce, or catch.
Engaging in cartel as economic sabotage. There is prima facie evidence of engagement in this act when two or more persons competing for the same market and dealing in the same products agree to perform uniform, simultaneous, or complementary acts among themselves and actually perform such acts designed to artificially and unreasonably increase or manipulate the supply or prices of such products, thereby stifling competition to the detriment of consumers, or the decrease in farmgate prices to the detriment of the agricultural and fishery producers.
For more information, please read the text of the laws in full at the Official Gazette.
