The Bureau of Internal Revenue said Wednesday it closed down the operations of Philippine offshore gaming operator Great Empire Gaming and Amusement Corp. with over 8,000 employees for allegedly violating the country’s tax laws.
Department of Finance officials led by assistant secretary Antonio Lambino and BIR officials entered the Eastwood City office of Great Empire to effect the closure. Great Empire’s other offices in Parañaque and Subic were also facing closure.
Great Empire was one of the POGO operators that received a notice of violation from the Quezon City government for failing to present sanitary permit, environmental clearance and employees’ occupational permits.
Reports said Great Empire operated from the fourth to the 19th floors of an unfinished building.
The BIR said the closure of the tax-dodging POGO was in compliance with the earlier directive of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to close down POGO operations found to be violating Section 115 (b), in relation to Section 236 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.
“Results of the investigation showed that GEGAC is not registered for VAT purposes violating the Section 108 vis-a-vis with Section 115 of the Tax Code as certified by the Revenue District Office 019—Subic Bay Freeport Zone,” the BIR said.
The closure order was issued by BIR deputy commissioner for operations Arnel Guballa.
Dominguez said in a message to Finance reporters that the number of foreign employees in Great Empire’s Eastwood location was around 8,100, “with a few hundred more in Parañaque and Subic.”
When asked what would happen to the foreign employees, Dominguez replied: “I suppose they will be processed by the Bureau of Immigration.”
Dominguez earlier this month said the government would start to close down “as soon as possible” offshore gaming operations that were not complying with tax laws.
Dominguez said the crackdown would be led by the DOF, in partnership with other government agencies such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
The Chinese embassy in Manila urged the Philippine government in August to crack down on POGOs, saying several Chinese citizens were illegally recruited and hired in offshore gaming operations in the Philippines.
State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. last month stopped accepting new applications for offshore online gaming licenses after Beijing called on Manila to crack down on gambling operations targeting its citizens.
PAGCOR said there were 58 licensed offshore gaming operators in the country, and three more had pending applications.
The DOF and the Bureau of Internal Revenue expect to collect at least P2 billion in personal income taxes per month from foreign workers. So far, the government initially collected P200 million from the sector in July.
The Labor Department said foreign nationals working for POGOs reached about 138,000.