Alliance Select asks BIR to ease tax relief procedures

MANILA, Philippines – Tuna and salmon processing company Alliance Select Foods International, Inc. is asking the tax bureau to ease its required procedures for local companies eyeing to list in Singapore. 

Alliance plans to list in the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) by the second half of 2013 but is concerned about the length of time the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requires to process taxes on stock trading transactions in SGX. 

The 15-day processing time the BIR requires is impractical, Alliance president and CEO Jonathan Y. Dee told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders meeting on Thursday, July 4. 

“As we know in a stock exchange situation, it is very fluid and no one can actually tell when you are going to buy, when you are going to sell. So, the current regulations in the Philippine-Singapore tax treaty are not quite practical,” he said.

Investors who buy Alliance stocks in Singapore are required to submit requests to avail of the benefits of the treaty between the Philippines and Singapore to avoid being taxed by both countries. 

Dee said the company wrote to the BIR in June to appeal the 15-day required lead time before investors buy or sell Alliance shares in SGX. Alliance suggested that the SGX-listed company file a report to the BIR at the end of each month instead.   

“We request that investors in Singapore be permitted to make a post-trading application by submitting to the BIR through Alliance a list certified by the SGX of all trades, to obtain relief under the treaty,” Dee said. “We want clearer procedural matters. All were asking for is a relaxation of the procedure of how to do it.”

“We are hoping to hear from the BIR. If we hear from them the by next quarter then we can apply in the next 3 months and pass it by next year,” he said. – Rappler.com