“No more to Pag-IBIG!” is the message of Circular No. 421 released in January by the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), also known as Pag-IBIG. The Circular highlighted three points concerning foreign nationals who are working or assigned to work in the Philippines.
To some, data storytelling may seem like an oxymoron. People often view data analysis as a technical function and storytelling as a creative task. Data and stories are perceived to be opposites in the cognitive process. This thinking is fueled by the left-brain/right-brain myth — one that has since been debunked by scientists from the University of Utah after they scanned more than 1,000 brains in 2013. There was no evidence that people dominantly use their left or right brain. All of the regions in the brain enable humans to engage in both creative and analytical thinking at the same time.
Getting into college and committing to the accountancy program are just the beginning of the long haul. The gutsy ones defied the nagging thought of the consistently low national passing rate in the certified public accountant (CPA) licensure exams, forged ahead, and braved the numbers. And you were one of the very few who made it to the finish line. Or, should I say, made it to the starting line of the real world.
Every tax filing season, corporate taxpayers grapple to complete and collect all the certificates of Creditable Tax Withheld (BIR Form 2307) from their local customers up to the eleventh hour. Issues on the validity of the creditable withholding tax (CWT) certificates, and the propriety or timing of recognizing the income tax credits come to the fore. It makes me wonder how hard-earned money contributed to government coffers could still be subject to dispute.
