The government’s persistent efforts to increase tax collection from Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) have yielded remarkable results.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported a record high collection from POGOs a year after Congress enacted Republic Act 11590 which instituted income taxes on their foreign employees and taxes on their gaming and non-gaming revenues.
Based on a report by Philippine Star, POGOs paid P8.78 billion in taxes in 2022. This is 125 percent more than the P3.91 billion taxes it paid in 2021 and 23 percent more that its previous record-high tax payments of P7.18 billion in 2020.
These taxes are on top of the estimated P2 billion in revenues collected by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) from POGOs in revenue shares and license fees every year.
The significance of these contributions is further accentuated by Pagcor’s dedication to maintaining a stringent licensing process, leading to a commendable reduction in licensed players from over 60 at its peak to a current count of 32.
With POGOs showing their willingness to reform and clean up their ranks, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno remains a vocal advocate for banning these gaming hubs catering mainly to Chinese and other markets outside the Philippines.
Diokno was the handpicked Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor of then President Rodrigo Duterte when RA 11590 was passed in Congress.
Property consultant David Leechiu noted that the economic impact of POGOs is nothing to sneeze at.
He estimated that the shut down of POGOs could lead to P170 billion to P200 billion in annual losses, mainly due to the one million in office space and 2.4 million square meters in residential space that the operators and their staff occupy.