MANILA - The Bureau of Internal Revenue has created a task force to monitor the compliance of incentivized registered businesses in the IT Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector, especially with the on-site work rules, the Finance Department said Wednesday.

The main goal of the task force is to ensure that the sector, which includes business process outsourcing (BPOs), is complying with the law that requires them to do business within special economic zones or freeports.

This was after the Fiscal Incentives and Review Board (FIRB) denied the sector's petition to extend work-from-home setups implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report to the DOF, BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa said the bureau has issued orders allowing the conduct of ocular inspections of the place of business to determine compliance with on-site work rules.

The DOF said under the law these businesses need to operate within the ecozones or freeport where they are registered to enjoy fiscal incentives.

“No one is prohibiting them or impinging on their management prerogative to continue implementing their WFH setups. However, they must give up the tax incentives they currently enjoy because the law is clear on this,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said.

Some BPO groups are pushing for a hybrid work setup which they said could help maintain the country's competitiveness in the sector.

• IT-BPM firms to lose tax perks if they insist on work-from-home: Finance chief
• A fight for the fate of work: As gov't nixes WFH, BPOs say hybrid is the future

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