RSBA Delegates Attend ACPAPP 16th Annual National Convention
RSBA Asst. Managers
In the Photo (L to R)
Rismar Rivera, John Dave Tamondong and Mark Salvador.
Over 500 participants from different accounting firms around the nation have gathered last September 22 to 24 to take part in the 16th Annual National Convention (ANC). It was organized by the Association of Certified Public Accountants in Public Practice (ACPAPP) and held in Mandurriao, Iloilo City with the theme “Regional Integration: Right Here, Right Now”. The convention focuses on how on the recent updates from various government organizations such as Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Board of Accountancy (BOA) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The featured speakers have provided recent updates and developments on their respective sectors, namely as follows:
Senator Franklin Drilon was the guest speaker to deliver his keynotes for the seminar. He also provided insights regarding the support of the senate on reducing the personal income taxes.
The first speaker, Atty. Tugonon, discussed on how, when and where the Philippines Tax administrations and proposed reforms are are going through with the objectives of increasing BIR tax collection, simplifying tax rules, enhancing the ease of doing business and preventing corruption. TMAP have questioned various tax reforms of the previous BIR Commissioner Kim Henares and have proposed to the current BIR Commissioner to repeal those issued memorandum circulars and orders. Cited examples are the RMC 62-2016 (the 7% Gross Receipt Tax), RMC 64-2016 (the tax treatment of non-stock, not-for-profit organizations) and RMO 24 and 25 – 2016 (for the real estate transactions).
Atty. Tugonon presented tax reform packages as proposed by the Department of Finance (DOF) which are detailed as follows:
From the tax reform packages, focused was given on the lowering of personal income tax where most of the participants are much interested. Atty. Tugonon and TMAP have made their own proposals as compared to the one presented by the DOF which are detailed as follows:
Proposed personal Income Tax from TMAP:
Proposed personal Income Tax from DOF:
We made our sample computations based on the tax tables as proposed by TMAP, DOF and with the current tax table. Below is the result of the computations:
As shown above, the tax bracket as presented by TMAP would be the most beneficial for the taxpayers earning below 2.5 million but not to those earning beyond 2.5 million.
The following are the corporate income taxes of the South East Asian Nations as of today:
TMAP is proposing that the corporate income tax in the Philippines should be at par with at least the highest rate among the Southeast Asian nations which is 25%.
In addition to the above discussions on tax reforms, Atty. Tugonon also discussed the current challenges that we are facing such as (1) no termination without any deficiency tax findings, (2) conflicting interests of the examiners or the “Need to collect fairness”, (3) the arbitrary selection of subjects; and (4) the culture of distrust.
The second speaker, Ms. Antonieta Ibe, discussed the recent amendments to SRC Rule 68. The SEC together with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), BIR, BOA and BSP is currently working on the adoption of single accreditation or the so-called “Passport” framework which will synchronize and simplify the accreditation requirements for all the said government agencies. One of the simplified products is that all application and accreditation requests and requirements will be submitted and communicated with the SEC only, regardless if the accreditation is for the other sectors (e.g. CDA, BIR, BOA and BSP).
Ms. Lyn Javier, the third speaker talked about the partnership of the BSP and the external auditors. She is encouraging the accredited BSP external auditors especially the big auditing firms located in the National Capital Region (NCR) to extend their services throughout the country since as of date many banks are still not being audited. Some of the participants have reacted that this may be due to their strict accreditation process. She further emphasized that there should be shared responsibility and obligation between the BSP and external auditors.
Atty. Ma. Gracia C. Diaz discussed about the globalization of business requirements that could have an impact on the local requirements. She highlighted that it is very important that as external auditors we should always maintain our integrity in accepting clients and doing our work.
The fifth technical session, featuring Hon. Gerard B. Sanvictores, talked about the recent updates with the BOA affecting different associations of certified public accountants in Education, Commerce and Industry, and Public Practice. One of the resolutions that majorly affects most of the CPAs were the strict implementation on completion of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) units before renewal of its licenses. The BOA is currently working on operational protocols or guidelines for accountancy which will be issued in the upcoming months. Some of those issuances include:
- Minimum 45 days submission of application for accreditation of CPD Program or as a CPD provider
- Monitoring of CPD programs/activities
- Post activity (seminars, conferences, workshops, etc) assessments (e.g. tests)
- Revision of CPD form
- Speakers’ bureau, train the trainers course
Before the last two technical sessions, Mr. Francis J. Kong provided the participants with inspirational talks about personal excellence, integrity and values that will help not only the professional accountants but also other people.
Mr. Enrico E. Baluyut introduced to the participants the new auditor’s report that features various changes from the previous auditor’s report. Some of the changes are the inclusion of Key Audit Matters (KAM), other information for Management and Auditor’s responsibility and the presentation itself of the auditor’s report.
The last technical session, discussed by Ms. Josephine Adrienne A. Abarca focuses on the upcoming changes with the PFRSs which will be implemented in the upcoming years. One of the major changes that were discussed was the accounting treatment of leases which scraps the operating lease treatment.
We are very pleased that the organizers of the convention, the ACPAPP, treated everyone with great food and lots of learnings from the event.