NEWS

By Warren De Guzman

MANILA – The Philippines’ finance department on Monday lauded the country’s top 500 taxpayers as of May that settled their corporate and income tax returns (ITRs) ahead of the extended deadline due to the coronavirus lockdown.

BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO), Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Unilab, Inc. (Unilab), Mercury Drug Corp. (MDC), Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad), Metrobank Card Corp. (MCC), Globe Telecom, Inc. (Globe) and Innove Communications, Inc. (ICI) are the top 10 corporate taxpayers.

Next on the list of top taxpayers were the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC), Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC), Security Bank Corp. (SBC), Monde Nissin Corp. (Monde), Eagle Cement Corp. (ECC), Huawei Technologies Phil., Inc. (Huawei), Phil Gold Processing & Refining Corp. (PGPRC) and First Gas Power Corp. (FGPC), the Department of Finance said in a statement.

The DOF and the Bureau of Internal Revenue extended the deadline several times due to the enhanced community quarantine and the modified lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The prompt payment of taxes ahead of the deadline provided additional boost to the government’s social amelioration program, emergency health measures and the economic stimulus packages all meant to cushion the impact of the pandemic, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

“We hope that the commendable act of these taxpayers would inspire other taxpayers to do the same and contribute to our nation-building as we work together to get the economy back on its feet in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dominguez said.

Source: ABSCBN News