Gov’t losing P22B in income taxes from 56k Chinese, other aliens in gaming ops

The government is losing P22 billion in income taxes that should have been collected from foreigners working at Philippine offshore gaming operations or POGO in the country.

According to JP Soriano's report on "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho", an inter-agency task force composed of the Department of Labor and Employment, Bureau of Immigration, and PAGCOR has found out that the offshore gaming in the country employs over 76,000.

More than 82 percent of them are foreigners.

Over 56,000 Chinese workers are employed in the POGO.

"That's what we want to find out. Who are these foreign nationals and what they've been doing," Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said.

"If they've been working, were they provided AEP (alien employment permit)," he added.

According to the Department of Finance, the BIR found out that the Chinese working at the POGO earn 10,000 yuan or P78,000 monthly.

The government agencies are still trying to find out how foreigners working at the POGO had been able to avoid paying taxes. —NB, GMA News