More changes may be on the way for a tourist visa.

[hk blues]

6 hours ago, Gary D said:

I think one problem is that when the Chinese invest they bring their own workforce, trickledown is very limited.

The trickledown comes when they spend money here, and pay taxes here.  We can assume many send much of their income home to China, but certainly not all and, again we can assume not all pay taxed buy most/many do.  

[Gary D]

4 hours ago, hk blues said:

The trickledown comes when they spend money here, and pay taxes here.  We can assume many send much of their income home to China, but certainly not all and, again we can assume not all pay taxed buy most/many do.  

Yes but they don't tend to employ locals, at least not in any numbers. Unlike if a western company opened a plant.

[scott h]

4 hours ago, Gary D said:

Yes but they don't tend to employ locals

There was an article in the paper a few weeks ago where local media took a tour of one of these pogo's. Most of the Chinese are used on the phones. The girls dealing video pai gow, the security guys, maintenance people pretty much any job that did not require the person to speak Cantonese or mandarin was filled by Filipinos...…..some jobs are better than no jobs

9 hours ago, hk blues said:

much of their income home to China,

Just like Filipino OFWs.  But ask the guy who sells smokes by the stick if we would rather have 5 pesos from a Chinese guy or no pesos 

[OnMyWay]

4 hours ago, Gary D said:

Yes but they don't tend to employ locals, at least not in any numbers. Unlike if a western company opened a plant.

Somebody above mentioned the BI Agenda list where you look at your visa status.  When I got my 13A a few years ago, I don't think there were many Chinese on the list.  Look at it now.

http://immigration.gov.ph/images/Agenda/2019_Agenda/08_Aug/2019Aug01_agenda.pdf

162 pages with 2284 CHN.  Second is India with 312, I think.  Indonesia has 115.  I looked at one of the companies bringing in Indonesians, IDNPLAY.  It is all about gambling.

https://idnplay.com/

I searched a few of CHN companies listed.  If I found anything, you can tell it is all about the gambling.

[hk blues]

18 hours ago, Gary D said:

Yes but they don't tend to employ locals, at least not in any numbers. Unlike if a western company opened a plant.

Yep, it seems that way.  Regardless, whoever they employ will likely be paying some taxes (despite what many seem to think it's not that easy to run a business, employ a number of people and avoid paying taxes, it happens but I doubt it's the norm) and no matter the nationality of the employees, they gotta live and eat and drink and so on so the local economy does benefit to some extent. 

 

[fillipino_wannabe]

3 hours ago, hk blues said:

Yep, it seems that way.  Regardless, whoever they employ will likely be paying some taxes (despite what many seem to think it's not that easy to run a business, employ a number of people and avoid paying taxes, it happens but I doubt it's the norm) and no matter the nationality of the employees, they gotta live and eat and drink and so on so the local economy does benefit to some extent. 

 

Not really as simple as foreigners spending a few pesos on food so they're good for the economy though. They send inflation through the roof for property etc, pretty much impossible for 99% of employees in Manila to ever hope to own their own property there.

Pretty sure it is fairly easy to avoid most taxes here aswell, either legally or illegally. Even on Lazada where my wife sells they have a nice tax avoidance scheme, sellers selling 3 mil pesos or less per year pay no tax as they put it through a cooperative first.

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 8/8/2019 at 8:44 PM, hk blues said:

Most Yes, many No I'd guess

My point is how are the Chinese operating business here. Many of these business are small and not Casinos so how do they get a permit since they are foreigners and come under the same rules. To pay tax you have to be an legit business. 

[Gary D]

1 minute ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

My point is how are the Chinese operating business here. Many of these business are small and not Casinos so how do they get a permit since they are foreigners and come under the same rules. To pay tax you have to be an legit business. 

Probably have silent partners, some dodgy attorney making plenty of .money on the side. Also explains the significant numbers of 13a's.

[sonjack2847]

I have just come across this.

MANILA, Philippines — Despite concerns over the increasing number of Chinese nationals in the Philippines, the government does not see any reason to scrap the visa-upon-arrival (VUA) privilege granted to them, but eyes to tighten the process of its issuance instead.

A Malacañang source told The STAR that government agencies that deal with the activities of foreigners in the country have agreed to tighten the VUA privilege to Chinese tourists instead of scrapping it.

The source said the Department of Justice (DOJ), through the Bureau of Immigration (BI), is crafting guidelines for tightening the process of VUA issuance.

“We’ve decided to tighten the process instead of scrapping it so that the people will feel safe (amid the influx of Chinese visitors),” the source said.

Calls for the scrapping of the VUA privilege have gained ground in the wake of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s raising concerns over security issues spawned by the rising number of Chinese nationals in the Philippines.

Reacting to Esperon’s statement, Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted that the visas granted to Chinese travelers should undergo vetting process by consular offices.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they are awaiting further instructions from the DOJ. She said BI “will readily implement should there be any changes in procedures.”

The VUA privilege for Chinese started in 2017 after then Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Wanda Teo asked the DOJ – then headed by Vitaliano Aguirre II – to accord Chinese nationals special privilege.

In a related development, tourism chief Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said VUA is not a big factor in the influx of Chinese nationals in the Philippines.

Puyat said that only 91,261 Chinese tourists were granted VUA privilege in 2018, or only nine percent of the total 1,023,824 Chinese who received their visas from DFA consular offices in China.

She also said that only 55,739 Chinese tourists have availed of VUA privilege from January to July 2019.

Puyat explained that the process of VUA issuance does not begin in the Philippines.

She said VUA is only granted to Chinese tourists who passed the screening process of DOT-accredited tour operators in China and to the vetting process of the BI, in a process that usually lasted for 10 days.

“Pupunta sila sa accredited tour operators tapos titignan ng BI yung records nila, ibabalik ng immigration ang kanilang documents kung may problemang nakita at hindi mabibigyan ng VUA (They go to accredited tour operators and the BI will check their records. The immigration will return their documents if a problem is spotted, and they’ll not be issued VUA),” Puyat said.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/08/11/1942349/visa-arrival-policy-stays-rules-be-tightened?fbclid=IwAR01ngSSFNXERSzr8z3-kIrFKVARtugScCxO7MAGRMpaKA1v0k3ND9e2J20#lDdh1kiHrrbqdVRe.99

[hk blues]

On 8/9/2019 at 10:56 PM, fillipino_wannabe said:

Not really as simple as foreigners spending a few pesos on food so they're good for the economy though. They send inflation through the roof for property etc, pretty much impossible for 99% of employees in Manila to ever hope to own their own property there.

Pretty sure it is fairly easy to avoid most taxes here aswell, either legally or illegally. Even on Lazada where my wife sells they have a nice tax avoidance scheme, sellers selling 3 mil pesos or less per year pay no tax as they put it through a cooperative first.

Nothing wrong with tax avoidance - it's the tax evasion that needs looking at