PH, Mexico to ink tax treaty at Apec sidelines

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines and Mexico will sign later this year a treaty aimed at plugging tax leaks between the two countries, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

On its website, the BIR reported that Philippine and Mexican revenue officials met last Dec. 15-19 at the historic Ayuntamiento building in Intramuros, Manila, “to negotiate an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.”

“The tax treaty between the two governments will be signed in 2015 to coincide with the visit in Manila of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders meeting,” the BIR disclosed.

The Philippines shall host the 2015 Apec Summit in November.

The Philippine delegation was led by BIR Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares alongside other top officials of the BIR and the Department of Finance.

The Mexican delegation, meanwhile, was headed by Armando Lara Yaffar, who, like Henares, is a United Nations (UN) tax expert, the BIR noted. Yaffar chairs the UN Tax Committee.

In October last year, Henares was appointed as a member of the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, an elite group comprising 25 tax experts and senior tax administrators from 10 developed as well as 15 developing member-countries.

Double taxation has been a contentious issue for BIR with some high-profile personalities, including boxer Manny Pacquiao.

To date, the Philippines has agreements to prevent double taxation with Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam, according to the BIR.