The Accounting Office under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration (OVCFA) of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) organized the “Seminar on Revenue Regulations pertinent to Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law” on 10 May 2018 at the Audio-visual Room, UPOU Headquarters, Los Baños, Laguna. This seminar was primarily held for the UPOU employees, and extended to the general public to further enlighten them on pertinent provisions of RR-8-2018 and RR-11-2018 of the TRAIN Law. The seminar was streamed live via networks.upou.edu.ph.
Dr. Jean A. Saludadez, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, welcomed all participants by sharing a quotation from Benjamin Franklin, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” She said, the quotation suggests the negative view of taxes. Taxes are always viewed negatively as a deduction but it can be viewed also as an addition. Payment of correct taxes by each Filipino citizen contributes to the welfare of the general public. She congratulated Ms. Encarnacion B. Jaen, Chief of the Accounting Office, and her team, for their initiative in organizing the seminar and expressed hoped that everyone listening on location or online will find the seminar helpful.
Key personnel from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Revenue District Office No. 056, Calamba City, were the seminar speakers. They were Mr. Edward King S. Manguera, Revenue Officer (RO) II, Mr. Edison Michael E. Gamo, RO I and Ms. Lovely Mae A. Cansana, RO I.
Mr. Manguera gave a disclaimer on BIR’s existing provisions of TRAIN Law. According to him, their presentations are based on the most recent issuances of the Bureau. He mentioned that lots of memoranda were circulated to their office pertaining to updates on regulations of TRAIN Law.
The speakers discussed the revenue provisions regarding the registration requirements, the appropriate withholding of taxes by the employers/agencies, the use of the revised tax table, the filing and payment of individual income tax, and the tax requirements for Contract of Services/Job Orders, among others, pursuant to TRAIN Law.
A number of questions were raised both by participants onsite and online. One question was also entertained through a phone patch. Most of the questions raised were about taxes of individuals on job order or contract of services, and about withholding tax matters. These were effectively answered by the resource speakers.
The seminar ended with an awarding of certificates and tokens to the speakers and a closing message from Mr. Michael P. Lagaya, Chief AO of the UPOU Human Resource Development Office, and Officer-in-Charge for the Cash Office. (RHBulanhagui)
