November 2022

Tax Principal Ana Katrina C. De Jesus (ACJ) and Global Compliance and Reporting (GCR) Senior Director Fatma Aleah A. Datukon facilitated tax webinars hosted by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) - Western Metro Manila Chapter (WMMC) in the third quarter of 2022. ACJ led the webinar entitled Filing of Tax Treaty Relief Application with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) while Fatma led the webinar on Basic Concepts of Expanded Withholding Tax (EWT). Webinar event flyers Ana‘s discussion focused on the procedures and documentation for the availment of tax treaty benefits. She also discussed the flow of filing of the request for confirmation or tax treaty relief application and described the BIR process of granting and denying treaty benefits. Fatma then talked about the basic concepts of EWT such as its nature and principles, withholding agents, the income payments subject to and exempt from EWT as well as the administrative requirements that must be complied with.  Ana and Fatma with the organizers and attendees via Zoom

Members of the SGV Tax team participated in the Online Q3 General Membership Meeting organized by the Association of Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) Finance Executives (ASEFEX) in September 2022. Event poster SGV Associate Directors Atty. Gracia Mae A. Beronilla and Atty. Rommelle I. Delos Santos were resource speakers on e-invoicing and recent tax updates, respectively. Atty. Gracia highlighted the implementation of the new e-invoicing system (EIS) in July 2022 for pilot taxpayers. She also discussed the requirements and mandates for those covered taxpayers under the new e-invoicing system.  Atty. Rommelle’s discussion focused on the recent significant BIR, PEZA and BOC Issuances such as the Guidelines on Availment of Tax Incentives under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 and new documentary requirements under the Importers Accreditation. He also presented Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Rulings on matters of right to collect taxes that have already prescribed and issues on refund or tax credit. The speakers and panelist, SGV Tax Senior Director Atty. Jo Ann Marie O. Casio, addressed questions and clarifications from the participants in the open forum. About 90 ASEFEX and SEIPI members attended the assembly. Participation in the virtual briefing was coordinated by Logistics Market Sector Leader and Tax Principal Stephanie V. Nava (SVN) and Technology Market Sector Leader and Assurance Partner Manolito R. Elle (MRE). Senior Director Atty. Alden Patrick C. Labaguis and Indirect Tax (IDT) Senior Associates Atty. Andrea Nicole C. Loreno and Atty. James E. Gregorio were part of the organizing team.

SGV Consulting Senior Associates Justine Mark D. Siccion and Jayce Tovar G. Jose were speakers in a webinar on The Art of Cyber Investigations: Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) on 14 October 2022. The webinar was organized by the West Visayas State University and attended by students from the university’s College of Information and Communications Technology. Event poster Justine and Jayce talked about the function of security operations centers and what open-source intelligence is and how it is gathered, analyzed, and used in enabling cybersecurity professionals to identify threats, improve the incident response, and anticipate potential breaches. They also recounted their respective experiences in building their careers in security operations.

The Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) team hosted the first episode of the SGV Sustainable Actions for Value-Creation and Enablement (SAVE) Council’s WebCCaSS for FY23 in September 2022. The webcast, entitled “The Power of Responsibility – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),” aimed to raise awareness on the importance of CSR and highlight local CSR activities as well as SGV's own CSR activities. It was attended by 715 participants. SGV Partner Joseph Ian M. Canlas delivers his opening remarks  SGV Consulting and CCaSS Partner Joseph Ian M. Canlas (JMC) kicked off the session with his opening remarks while CCaSS Senior Director Crystal Aleli R. Cornell, CCaSS Associate Director Rosheena E. Borlaza, Global Compliance and Reporting (GCR) Director Rose T. Tejerero, and SGV Foundation Executive Director Yin O. Maldonado covered the following topics: Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility in the Philippines, and Corporate Social Responsibility Activities in SGV. They discussed the importance of CSR, its definition, classification, and how it relates to sustainability.  GCR Director Rose Tejerero highlights SGV’s CSR activities Participants engaged in interactive polls where they were asked about their involvement in CSR activities within and outside the Firm. The Declaration of Commitment was also introduced to the participants. Through the Declaration, the participants were encouraged to solidify their commitment to living a more sustainable life by setting more attainable sustainability goals. Their participation in the Declaration of Commitment per session serves as their involvement in this EY Ripples initiative. CCaSS Senior Director Crystal Cornell concluded the session by thanking the participants and once again encouraging them to commit to a more responsible and sustainable lifestyle. SGV Foundation Executive Director Yin Maldonado looks back on SGV’s CSR history CCaSS Senior Associates John Niccolo M. Uriarte, Marsha P. Batusbatusan, and France Justine A. Arugay assisted the speakers and organizers in preparing the materials used for the session.  The SAVE Council’s WebCCaSS initiative is a quarterly one-hour webcast that covers concepts, trends, regulations and industry practices around sustainability and climate change.