TMAP International Tax Summit
Atty. Benedicta "Dick" Du-Baladad, Founding Partner and CEO of BDB Law, moderated the panel discussion on Tax Enforcement Practices in ASEAN that featured distinguished panelists, including Rahayu Hoed, Senior Partner at Makarim & Taira S. in Indonesia, Anand Raj, Head of Tax Practice at Shearn Delamore & Co. in Malaysia, and Paul Lau, Tax Partner at PwC Singapore.
During the discussion, Atty. Dick inquired about the current status of the e-invoicing initiative, directing the question to BIR Officer, Janette R. Curz, Assistant Commissioner of Client Support Service. In response, Ms. Janette shared that the e-invoicing system is still in its pilot stage, with approximately 34 million invoices received so far, and progress is being made towards a fully web-based issuance system.
A call to action was raised by Atty. Dick for the BIR to consider waiving withholding tax requirement when tax payments fall below the amount already withheld, or if one has excess withholding tax credits. This is a practice in Indonesia. Additionally, a discussion on comparative withholding tax on non-residents’ service income was tackled.
The discussion also covered Transfer Pricing (TP) practices across ASEAN Countries; Malaysia's improper implementation, Singapore's active enforcement, and Indonesia's lack of TP laws. Panelists rated compliance costs from 1-10 with 10 as the most costly; Singapore and Indonesia at 6 and Malaysia noting it’s 3.5 points higher than ideal.
