PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law the imposition of a 12 percent value-added tax (VAT) on foreign digital service providers (DSPs), a priority measure of his administration.
Marcos signed Republic Act 12023, or the VAT on Digital Services Law, during a ceremonial signing held in Malacañang on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
The measure covers digital media, digital music, digital video, video-on demand, and digital advertising.
The chief executive said the measure aims to strengthen the authority and streamline the process of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in collecting VAT on digital services, as well as to level the playing field for local providers.
Marcos said the rapid changes in the country’s digital landscape have created a gap in the country’s tax system, and it is about time to bridge the gap.
“With this law, we say that if your presence in the Philippine market is as real as your profits, then your tax responsibilities should also be equally tangible. Local businesses and international digital platforms now compete on equal terms. We no longer will be playing by different sets of rules,” said Marcos.
“If you are reaping the rewards of a fruitful digital economy here, it is only right that you contribute also to its growth. After all, whether you are a small tech start-up or a global tech giant based halfway around the world, if you are making money here in the Philippines, you are part of our community. And with that comes a shared responsibility,” he added.
Netflix, Disney+, and HBO are among the digital service providers in the Philippines.
Marcos assured that the government has taken a deliberate and measured approach to guarantee that the imposition of the law will not crush innovation or hinder growth.
The law does not cover educational and public interest services, including online courses, webinars, and other digital educational offerings to keep education affordable and accessible to all Filipinos.
The National Government expects to collect P105 billion in taxes in the next five years from the effective date of the law.
“This is enough to build 42,000 classrooms, more than 6,000 rural health units, 7,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads. Additionally, five percent of the revenues generated by this law will be allocated to our creative industries,” said Marcos.
“This means our artists, filmmakers, musicians — the very people who fill our platforms with stories and with content — will directly benefit. This ensures that our creative talents are not just surviving in a competitive digital market, but will be allowed to prosper. Fairness, inclusivity, and progress — these are the goals of this law,” he added.
In a statement, Senator Win Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, welcomed the enactment of the law, noting that it will create an environment where digital services providers, whether nonresident or local, can operate under fair and square tax policies.
He said that in Section 108 of the Tax Code, the sale of services performed in the country is subject to VAT, but the taxability of nonresident digital service providers was not clarified.
Gatchalian said the failure to impose and collect tax on nonresident digital service providers in the past contradicts the fundamental principle of equitable taxation, generating an imbalance between domestic and foreign service providers and putting local businesses at a disadvantage.
“While local platforms like iWantTFC and Vivamax are subject to VAT, subscriptions to the services of their foreign counterparts such as Netflix and HBO Go are not, creating an uneven playing field between local and nonresident digital service providers,” he said.
“This situation hampers the government's ability to adequately collect taxes from the growing digital economy,” he added. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)