It's been a while since I last attended meetings and events of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP). However, its executive director, Arnold Salvador, has never ceased sending me invites and reminders.
The invite for Wednesday's general membership meeting, which coincides with the election of additional members of the board for the coming year, was one I couldn't pass up. The speaker, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, will be discussing "The Economic Vision: Key Administrative and Legislative Programs of the Marcos Jr. Administration."
The poster of the Secretary greeted guests and members at the registration desk of the Grand Ballroom of the posh Shangrila Hotel in the Fort. Like the rest of the attendees, I was looking forward to listening to Mr. Ralph's presentation and learning about his department's mission and vision in the last two years of this administration.
As the start of the filing of candidacy for the mid-term elections was scheduled exactly a week from now, the occasion also provided an opportunity for the MAP membership and me, the ever-curious journalist, to inquire whether he would seek re-election, including his more famous better half, the star for all seasons turned politician Vilma Santos-Recto.
Just to digress, I heard from a business acquaintance that their son, the 28-year-old Ryan Christian, might enter the political arena, possibly taking his mother's Congressional slot, who would again seek the gubernatorial position of Batangas.
Despite the slight disappointment upon learning that Mr. Ralph couldn't make it due to a call from the Legislative-Executive Development Council, the presentation by DOF's Chief Economist, Undersecretary Domini Velasquez, was sufficient.
Her disclosure that the bill seeking to impose a 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) on digital transactions of non-resident digital service providers (DSPs), including Netflix, HBOGo, Disney, Spotify, would be signed into law next week, or Monday at the earliest, caught the attention of her audience.
This is financially burdensome! Simply put, the 12 percent VAT translates into additional budgetary allocation for you and me—DSP subscribers. Personally, I have subscriptions to Netflix, Disney, HBOGo, Apple TV, Spotify, and Viu, most of which kept me sane during the pandemic lockdown.
Although I'm not sure if these DSPs will absorb part of the 12 percent VAT and pass the rest on to their subscribers, I anticipate a corresponding increase in my monthly dues.
My effective monthly Premium Netflix bill of P549 will increase to P614.88; Viu and Spotify by P166.88, respectively; Apple TV by P44.28 to P413.28; and HBOGo by P29.88 to P278.88.
Fabian "Fame" K. de los Santos, SGV head of Business Tax Services, reminds me of the logic behind the imposition. "In the past, the services rendered by these foreign digital providers with the use of the internet were not part of the tax ecosystem."
With 400,000 local subscribers, which is significantly lower than the 66.7 million subscribers in the United States, Netflix, a US-based subscription video-on-demand, over-the-top streaming service, is steadily growing in popularity here.
Now, let's move on to the DOF's neighbor, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). As I write this, I learned that the Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the BSP, is considering the promotion of Senior Assistant Governor (SAG) and General Counsel Elmore O. Capule to Deputy Governor.
SAG Elmore will now be the Deputy Governor for the corporate services sector, currently held by Eduardo "Ed" Bobbier, who will be retiring at the end of this month. "He will continue to be the General Counsel (GC)," shared my A1 but muted source, adding that "it will be on an interim basis as the BSP Governor prefers to appoint a new GC."
Congratulations, DG Capule.
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