by Maria Ruby Rea-Vergara
Since the passing of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10963, otherwise known as Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, the public has been active in raising questions with regards to its implementation by the Bureau of Internal Re¬venue (BIR). To the BIR’s credit, it has been aggressively exerting efforts to provide the public with guidelines in implementing the TRAIN law provisions through the issuance of revenue regulations, memorandum circulars and tax advisories. Nevertheless, questions are still being thrown around regarding TRAIN, most of which have something to do with changes on personal income taxation. To address these questions, the BIR recently issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 50-2018 on 8th June 2018 clarifying certain provisions of Revenue Regulations (RR) Nos. 8-2018 and 11-2018 Implementing the Income Tax Provisions of the TRAIN law.
The RMC answers the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the personal income and withholding tax provisions. Amongst the clarifications provided are the following:
It is worth noting that the RMC No. 50-2018 merely provides a general guidance on the foregoing tax provisions. Therefore, it is advisable that it must be read in conjunction with the pertinent provisions of the TRAIN Act, the Tax Code and its amendatory regulations.
With the inquisitive public, the challenge is for the BIR to further clarify the issues/concerns raised on the changes to personal taxation brought about by the TRAIN law through straightforward issuances.
Maria Ruby Rea-Vergara is a Senior Manager from the Tax Group of KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG RGM&Co.), the Philippine member firm of KPMG International. KPMG RGM&Co. has been recognized as a Tier 1 tax practice, Tier 1 transfer pricing practice, Tier 1 leading tax transactional firm and the 2016 National Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year in the Philippines by the International Tax Review.
This article is for general information purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice to a specific issue or entity.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG International or KPMG RGM&Co. For comments or inquiries, please email ph-inquiry@kpmg.com or rgmanabat@kpmg.com.