14 Japanese firms seek release of P14-billion tax refund

MANILA, Philippines – Fourteen big Japanese companies are asking the government to finally release their tax refund worth P14 billion which has been pending for four years.

In an interview with reporters, Nubuo Fujii, vice president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines said that 14 Japanese companies are waiting for their value added tax (VAT) refund from the government.

Fujii estimated that the refund from VAT without interest is now worth P13 billion to P14 billion. The refund is from the government policy that imported products with VAT will get a VAT refund once the imported products were processed in the country and were reexported.

Fujii said that the refund will mostly come from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs.

Fujii said that the Japanese Ambassador has already met with Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima on the matter.

At the same time, Fujii said that they would like the P14 billion to be paid in cash and not in tax credit certificates (TCC). “TCC is wallpaper. We can’t change it to cash.” He said it is time for the matter to be resolved because it has already been pending for almost to four years.

Fujii said the negotiations for the tax refund can be done under the Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). “Under the JPEPA we can renegotiate this.”

He said that Japanese firms that are within the economic zones run by PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) have no problems because it is already VAT exempt.