Frances Sales of the long-running and successful blog Topaz Horizon shares her insights about blogging and taxes, her tried-and-tested formula for success, as well as the things and people who inspired her along the way:Read MoreTaxumo Heroes: Mommy Blogger Frances Talks About Blogging and Taxes
The BMBE Law (Barangay Micro Business Enterprise) (copy of the law here) has certainly come a long way.
If you had applied for it in 2013, you might have encountered staff and officers at the municipal hall’s business permits and licensing office blankly wondering what the heck are you applying for.
But now, it’s one of the first things small-scale entrepreneurs ask about.
There’s plenty of information online about the BMBE Law nowadays, so I won’t write anymore about the stuff you’ll find rewritten in various forms all over the Internet.
Instead, let’s talk about the nitty-gritties of the BMBE Law—the stuff you seldom hear about.
Read MoreWhat You Need to Hear About the BMBE Law
How withholding tax feels like, sometimes: someone taking a bite out of your favorite doughnut before you can eat it. (Then again, lessening calories can be good for you.)
If you’re a freelancer with local clients, you must be familiar with withholding tax.
Simply put, it’s the amount of money that your client deducts from the amount you’re supposed to receive. So if you’re expecting, say, Php 3,000, you might end up getting Php 2,700 instead.
Where did that missing Php 300 go?
It went to your withholding tax.
Many of us who start a business come from a regular employment setting. So when we decide to register our business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), it comes as a shock when we learn that there are several types of taxes.
Yes, aside from income tax, there are other types of taxes that a business owner needs to pay–and that they need to file various tax forms many times a year.
Of course, we can’t spare you the payments, but we can at least spare you the shock.
Here, for your reading pleasure, are all the basic types of taxes and fees every professional or business owner needs to pay once they have registered with the BIR:
Read MoreBasic Types of Taxes Every Proprietor and Professional Needs to Pay to the BIR
Every year, we celebrate Labor Day on May 1 as a way to recognize and appreciate our hard work. Perhaps some of us see the holiday as an excuse to take a rest from the toil and troubles of our daily grind. And it may serve as a necessary pause to… Read MoreChasing Your Passion? Better Make Sure You Pass It On
While it took more than a decade for Rachel Limjoco-Bonifacio of Treehouse Yoga to trade high heels and office swivel chairs for bare feet and yoga mats, she has always been focused on one thing: her passion for teaching.
After thirteen years in the corporate world (the last few years of that, as a training manager in UnionBank of the Philippines), she decided that it was time to make a career shift.
And this is when she discovered something bigger and crazier to fuel her passion.
Below, Taxumo Hero Rach shares the secret to facing one’s weaknesses (and other nuggets of advice for every Filipino small business owner and self-employed professional who’s dreaming of doing something amazing.)
Read MoreTaxumo Heroes: The Passion That Drives Rach of Treehouse Yoga
The proposed income tax reforms have been hogging the headlines lately. Based on the latest draft at end of February 2017, an annual basic salary of P250,000 that used to be taxed as high as P37,500, will now be ZERO (not a typo). Everyone can’t wait for this to happen. It’s about time to experience a tax REDUCTION for a change.
But while national taxes (e.g. income taxes) are getting all the media attention, there is set of taxes that are under the radar, and have risen significantly in recent years. I’m referring to city/municipal or “local” taxes.
Read MoreWhat Can We Do with High Local Taxes in the Philippines?
There have been various news coverage on the election of Donald Trump, and how Trump’s “America First” policies could negatively impact our country’s thriving business process outsourcing or BPO industry. Many are concerned of possible US legislation that could discourage companies from further outsourcing. Or that they’ll make offshore services more expensive through some form of “border tax”. Analysts estimates well over 50% of BPO revenues emanating from the US or US companies. And some industry stakeholders, especially BPO employees, are frankly scared.
Read MoreHow President Trump May Hurt (or Help) the Philippine BPO Industry
The Duterte administration is aware of the potential risk of lowering Philippine income taxes. This is how he might manage the Philippines’ tremendous national debt—in the face of rising interest rates.
Ever wondered how much is the Philippines’ total debt?
Can you guess without Googling it? No?
Read MoreWith Lower Income Taxes, How Will Duterte Deal with the Philippines’ Huge National Debt?
Lowering taxes in the Philippines is possible, but it will take a lot of compromise for us to move things forward. HOW CAN IT BE DONE? There’s been several proposals of late aiming to lower the tax rates for the Philippines’ middle class. These include, among others, lessening the individual income tax… Read MoreHow can we get lower taxes in the Philippines?