I work for a IT services provider company based in Australia. My boss had married a Filipina and decided to stay here in the Philippines for good. He plans to register an outsourcing extension company with his wife as the owner but will still be under the banner of our Australian company.

We have a confusion on how to declare our revenue taxes since the profit of our services is received by the main office in Australia and the only money that is sent to us is for our salary and our office expenses and these are budgeted amounts and are not project based.

How do we apply for our Tax regulations?

Angela, your boss can just setup a branch office of his Australian company in the Philippines. Once the SEC has issued a license to operate, the branch will have to register with the BIR and obtain all the necessary business permits. I can not explain to you all the tax issues in this post as it is quite long. The branch office may register with the BOI.
Will we be able to benefit from BOI?

I am an Irish national. I would like to open a property development company in the philippines where I could purchase land develop it , then sell. Is it possible to own 100%.

What are my options?

kind regards

Paul, a non-Filipino citizen may own a maximum of 40% of a corporation which owns land.

What can be the best set-up in terms of ownership? Is majority share by the foreign company allowed?

Len, foreigners may not engage directly in farming.

I have a question of my own.. Can a foreign company already listed in another exchange (i.e. London or NYSE) be listed in the PSE?

Joe, yes there are companies listed overseas that are also listed in the Philippines.

Damian, foreigners may not own a public transportation business in the Philippines.

However, somebody told me that it would be better for us to apply for a SVEG, where I will act as the Investor and obtain four other Philippine shareholders for the company. What do you think is better for us? To apply as a Branch Office or as a SVEG holder?

under the SVEG they say that we only have to employ ten filipinos and that is it. is this true?

Your site is very helpful!

Jorell, a SVEG is visa, it is not a business entity. To operate a business you will need to setup a domestic corporation or a branch office.

But what if foreign owned 80% and Filipino owned 20%? is it same paid in capital? or possible less deposit? I heard that call center and export corp. also recommended by Philippine government. It is possible exceed 40% foreign owned corporation…

SJ, a resort is not considered an export corporation. The minimum capital for a corporation depending on the kind of business is Php 100,000.00 this would allow a maximum of 40% foreign ownership.

SJ, for a hotel / resort to be legally 100% foreign owned the minimum paid in capital is UDS 200,000.00.

This site is very useful..

I wonder if you could answer my question too.

Im uk citizen, staying in the Philippines now for 4 years as a tourist (not continously)

I have a filipina Fiance and we are having a baby.

So time to put a business here, it will be small, about $5000 initial investment ($2500 each) into a amusement type business, renting electric cars, and small amusement type rides in Malls.

We will be starting the business in her name, until we figure out how i can also legally be on the paperwork.

How can i legally be involved in this business?

Can we open as a partnership? allowing me to legally own 40%?

If not, what the very best i can do here?

Im planning on living here for a quite some time, and would like to be able to invest in business here, open my own business etc.

Also my dad (uk citizen) is married to a filipina (who is now a dual citizen), and they will be retiring to the Philippines soon too, to start a life and businesses here.

Thanks,

Kris, you may own up to 40% of the business in your name. You may setup a partnership for this business.

Just to make things clear: is software outsourcing considered an Export Enterprise? We have a foreign software company and would like to create a small company in the Philippines to help us out, with at first 2 employees, and up to 5 or 6 if it works well.

If so it means the paid-in capital will only be Php 100,000.00 and we could own 100% of it, right?

Also can I easily get a working visa if I want to work in that company in the Philippines (so that at least the 1st year I’ll be able to locally manage the team)?

Raffaello, correct software outsourcing is considered export the paid-in capital will only be Php 100,000.00 and you could own 99.% of it and yes you will be able to obtain a work visa.