JBD, WMS join forces in hosting Customs seminar

September 2018

The Japanese Business Development (JBD) organized a successful Customs seminar for Japanese executives in collaboration with Worldtrade Management Services (WMS) on 20 September 2018 at the Learning Room (PwC Philippines, 29F Philamlife Tower, Makati City). They aimed to help participants understand the latest trends and updates on customs, accounting and tax in the Philippines.

After JBD Director Ken Tojo (in photo, left) welcomed the participants at the beginning of the event, JBD Manager Toshi Hayashida (in photo, right) gave detailed presentation that covered:

an overview of the Philippines Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS) and the newly introduced PFRS for small entities (PFRS for SE) by the Securities and Exchange Commission
corporate and withholding tax regulations and other important points such as Improperly Accumulated Earnings Tax (IAET) as well as excess of retained earnings that are relevant to many Japanese companies

The main segment of event was delivered by PwC Thailand Senior Manager Aiko Kuwaki, the resource speaker who specializes in customs and trade. She discussed:

the impact of the proposed tax reform package (Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunitues or TRABAHO) on companies operating inside ecozones in terms of tariffs and customs operation
ways to ease TRABAHO's effects like efectively using Frade Trade Agreements (FTAs) and tax refund mechanism
developments on implementation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), including the enforcement of post-clearance audit and typical audit red flags
updates on export controls and reference values used by customs authorities to verify prices of select goods, and pre-registration of list of imported goods.

Q&A

WMS Partner Paul Sumner joined in the Q&A session. He gave practical insights on the upcoming post-clearance audit by the Bureau of Customs and shared audit best practices in other countries. The WMS team comprehensively responded to the concerns of most of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locators on the proposed reduction of customs incentives under TRABAHO and on customs duties.

Majority of the participants gave an excellent rating in the evaluation. With this achievement, JBD will mount a second customs seminar on 31 October 2018.