Accounting, Reporting & Statutory Compliance in the Philippines

Essentials guide · Source-checked research59% of statements checked against a source11 checked against an official source19 checked against a secondary sourceChecked 2026-10-198 held back until checked against an official source9 topics include AI-written statements, not source-checkedNot yet professionally reviewed

• The standard corporate income tax rate is 25 percent, reduced to 20 percent for domestic corporations with total assets not exceeding PHP 100 million and net taxable income not exceeding PHP 5 million.

  Resident foreign corporations are taxed in the same manner as domestic corporations, on Philippine-source income.PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked 2026-10-19

• VAT is levied at a standard rate of 12 percent (as at mid-2026).

  Export sales by VAT-registered persons are zero-rated; certain other supplies are zero-rated or exempt.PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked 2026-10-19

• Non-resident digital service providers with no physical presence in the Philippines that supply digital services to Philippine customers must register for VAT through the BIR's Online Registration and Update System, with a reverse charge applying where the customer is VAT-registered.

  Non-resident digital service providers cannot claim creditable input tax.PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked 2026-10-19

• Dividends paid to a non-resident foreign corporation are subject to 25 percent final withholding tax, reduced to 15 percent where the recipient's home country allows a deemed paid credit or does not tax the dividends, or lower under a treaty.

  PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked 2026-10-19

• Profits remitted by a Philippine branch to its head office are subject to a 15 percent branch profit remittance tax.

  Applied to profits applied or earmarked for remittance, without deduction for the tax. Profits from qualified activities remitted by a PEZA-registered branch are exempt, and a lower treaty rate may apply.PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked 2026-10-19

• The SEC requires an annual statutory audit of stock and non-stock corporations with total assets or total liabilities of PHP 600,000 or more, and the tax code requires an independent CPA audit of books where gross annual sales, earnings, receipts or output exceed PHP 3 million.

  PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries · checked 2026-10-19

• The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) is the Philippines' data privacy law; the National Privacy Commission (NPC) issues implementing rules under it, such as Circular 16-03 on personal data breach management, which requires breach notification to the NPC.

  Its territorial reach was not confirmed on this check.National Privacy Commission · checked 2026-10-19

• Under NPC Circular 16-03, personal data breaches involving sensitive personal information or information that could enable identity fraud, which are likely to give rise to a real risk of serious harm, must be notified to the National Privacy Commission and to affected data subjects within 72 hours, and the notification identifies the controller's designated data protection officer.

  Later NPC circulars may have amended these rules.National Privacy Commission · checked 2026-10-19

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