Subject: WEEKLY TAX UPDATES [OCT 20] Supreme Court: Senior citizen discounts cannot be combined with other discounts

WEEKLY TAX UPDATES

OCTOBER 20

  1. TAX & BUSINESS-RELATED NEWS [OCTOBER 12-19]

  2. BIR AMENDS RULES ON BURDEN-SHARING AGREEMENT OF ESTABLISHMENTS CLAIMING SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNTS AS TAX DEDUCTION

  3. BIR PRESCRIBES THE ACCREDITATION FOR ELECTRONIC INVOICING SOLUTIONS OF ELECTRONIC INVOICING SERVICES PROVIDERS (ESPs)

  4. BIR ISSUES TAX ADVISORY ON THE INVITATION FOR ACCREDITATION OF ELECTRONIC INVOICING SERVICE PROVIDERS (ESPs)

  5. BIR ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF THE TAXPAYER PORTAL FOR TAXPAYERS CLASSIFIED AS LARGE UNDER EOPT ACT

  6. DOJ OPINION ON MERCHANTS DENYING PWD BENEFITS

1. TAX & BUSINESS-RELATED NEWS [OCTOBER 12-19]

1. SC asked to stop courts from blocking wage orders

2. PC, chip prices likely to continue rising til end of year — Lenovo PH official

3. Lawyer urges Supreme Court to clarify ruling on senior discounts, promos

4. BIR misses end-Q3 revenue target

5. SLIMTC set to exit trust products business

6. Baguio City sets P950M to fix its first shopping mall

7. COA questions Moalboal officials’ seminar expenses

8. Supreme Court: Senior citizen discounts cannot be combined with other discounts

9. Zarate seeks probe into alleged almost P40 billion SSS paper stock losses

10. P42 daily minimum wage hike in Central Visayas takes effect

11. Aquino urges gov’t lenders to waive loan interest during Super El Niño

12. Rica Peralejo slams BIR registration seal requirement for content creators

13. COA flags P4.09B in overdue DBP loans for 'Build, Build, Build'

14. DOLE: Regional conditions determine wage hikes

15. ₱5,000 allowance for government’s 3 million workers pushed anew

DISCLAIMER!

We saw these tax and business-related news on various news sites, and we thought you should see them. DMD is not responsible for the content of these news, and anything written thereon does not necessarily reflect DMD views or opinions.

SC asked to stop courts from blocking wage orders [The Manila Times, October 19, 2026]

Kamanggagawa Party-list Rep. Elijah Rumbaoa San Fernando, the Workers and Peasants’ Party of the Philippines, the Federation of Free Workers, the National Federation of Labor, Sentro, and other labor organizations filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to stop the trial courts from proceeding with the cases and direct lower courts to dismiss outright petitions for declaratory relief or other actions challenging wage orders.

 

PC, chip prices likely to continue rising til end of year — Lenovo PH official

Michael Ngan, Philippine country head for Lenovo, said he expects device makers to continue competing with AI firms for these critical PC components.

 

Lawyer urges Supreme Court to clarify ruling on senior discounts, promos [The Philippine Star, October 16, 2026]

According to the Supreme Court’s ruling released in a press briefer on October 14, senior citizens cannot stack their statutory 20% discount on top of existing promotional prices, reinforcing that elderly consumers must choose between the promotional price and the statutory 20% discount, whichever yields greater savings.

 

BIR misses end-Q3 revenue target [Inquirer.Net, October 15, 2026]

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) fell short of its revenue target for the first nine months of the year by P43 billion, though it still posted double-digit growth in September.

 

SLIMTC set to exit trust products business [Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 15, 2026]

Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corp. (SLIMTC) will exit the trust products business as it undergoes a “planned and orderly transition,” Sun Life Philippines announced on Wednesday.

 

Baguio City sets P950M to fix its first shopping mall [Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 15, 2026]

Heeding the wishes of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the city government is set to spend close to a billion pesos for the makeover of Maharlika Livelihood Complex, the summer capital’s first shopping mall that was completed in 1980 at the direction of the President’s mother, then first lady Imelda Marcos.

 

COA questions Moalboal officials’ seminar expenses [The Manila Times, October 15, 2026]

State auditors said the local government failed to justify why officials who were not members of the organizing association needed to attend its activities.

 

Supreme Court: Senior citizen discounts cannot be combined with other discounts [ABS-CBN News, October 14, 2026]

In the decision of the en banc promulgated on October 14, the court acquitted the general manager of a hotel in Bacolod City who was charged for refusing to grant senior citizen discounts to a couple aged 66 and 70.

 

Zarate seeks probe into alleged almost P40 billion SSS paper stock losses [Inquirer.Net, October 14, 2026]

Former Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Wednesday called for a congressional probe into the paper stock losses of the Social Security System (SSS), which is reportedly worth nearly P40 billion.

 

P42 daily minimum wage hike in Central Visayas takes effect [GMA News Online, October 14, 2026]

Under the new rates, the daily minimum wage will increase to P582 in Class A areas, covering the expanded Metro Cebu area, and P542 in Class B areas, covering all other cities and municipalities in the region.

 

Aquino urges gov’t lenders to waive loan interest during Super El Niño [Inquirer.Net, October 13, 2026]

Senate trade and commerce panel chairperson Sen. Bam Aquino has urged government lending agencies to defer loan interest to small business owners from January to March 2027 amid the anticipated Super El Niño.

 

Rica Peralejo slams BIR registration seal requirement for content creators [GMA News Online, October 13, 2026]

In a post on Threads, the actress said she has been paying taxes since she was 13 years old, questioning why she still needs to prove her tax compliance by displaying the BIR Registration Seal Badge.

 

COA flags P4.09B in overdue DBP loans for 'Build, Build, Build' [GMA News Online, October 13, 2026]

State auditors have flagged lapses in the Development Bank of the Philippines’ (DBP) lending program for contractors under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, noting that most outstanding loans under the program were past due as of the end of 2025.

 

DOLE: Regional conditions determine wage hikes [The Manila Times, October 13, 2026]

Tolentino said regional wage boards consult workers, employers and government representatives before deciding on adjustments, taking into account the economic conditions in each area.

 

₱5,000 allowance for government’s 3 million workers pushed anew [Philippine News Agency, October 12, 2026]

In a news release Monday, Ejercito said Senate Bill No. 2540, filed on Oct. 8, seeks to provide additional economic relief to more than 3 million public servants whose allowances have remained unchanged since 2009.

2. BIR AMENDS RULES ON BURDEN-SHARING AGREEMENT OF ESTABLISHMENTS CLAIMING SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNTS AS TAX DEDUCTION

Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 007-2026, issued on October 13, 2026, amends RR No. 07-10 by establishing rules on the sharing of the financial burden of the mandatory 20% senior citizen discount, particularly for medicines and pharmaceutical products. Retailers, manufacturers/distributors, wholesalers-retailers, and wholesalers may enter into a duly documented burden-sharing agreement in accordance with Department of Health (DOH) guidelines. For tax purposes, only establishments that actually grant the discount may claim it as an additional deductible expense. Where the discount burden is shared, the deductible amount is limited to the establishment’s agreed share under the burden-sharing arrangement.

3. BIR PRESCRIBES THE ACCREDITATION FOR ELECTRONIC INVOICING SOLUTIONS OF ELECTRONIC INVOICING SERVICES PROVIDERS (ESPs)

Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 110-2026, issued on October 12, 2026, prescribes the accreditation requirements for Electronic Invoicing Service Providers (ESPs) and their e-invoicing solutions. It also sets the technical, operational, security, data governance, institutional, legal and continuing compliance standards that ESPs must meet before offering electronic invoicing services.

 

Highlights include mandatory BIR accreditation, compliance with data privacy and cybersecurity requirements, maintenance of audit trails and invoice records, timely transmission of invoicing data, and continuous compliance monitoring.

4. BIR ISSUES TAX ADVISORY ON THE INVITATION FOR ACCREDITATION OF ELECTRONIC INVOICING SERVICE PROVIDERS (ESPs)

In a Tax Advisory posted on October 15, 2026, the BIR invites interested entities to apply for accreditation as Electronic Invoicing Service Providers (ESPs) under its Electronic Invoicing Program. Applications may be submitted from October 16 to 30, 2026, subject to the qualifications and requirements under Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 110-2026.

5. BIR ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF THE TAXPAYER PORTAL FOR TAXPAYERS CLASSIFIED AS LARGE UNDER EOPT ACT

Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 109-2026, issued on October 6, 2026, announces the availability and expanded rollout of the Taxpayer Portal to taxpayers classified as Large under the Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) Act. The Portal allows taxpayers to view registration information, monitor filed tax returns and payments, access account ledgers, and receive system-generated tax reminders and notifications. Large Taxpayers may coordinate with their concerned Revenue District Office for enrollment assistance, technical concerns, or discrepancies in their taxpayer records.

6. DOJ OPINION ON MERCHANTS DENYING PWD BENEFITS

[MERCHANTS CANNOT WITHHOLD GRANT OF PWD STATUTORY BENEFITS AS A RESULT OF VERIFICATION OF FAKE OR INVALID PWD ID]

The Restaurant Owners of the Philippines, through the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), is seeking legal opinion on whether business establishments may independently verify the authenticity of Persons with Disability (PWD) Identification Cards as a condition for granting statutory discounts and privileges, whether they may withhold benefits when verification is inconclusive or suggests fraud, the standard of diligence expected in validating PWD IDs, and the extent of liability arising from either the improper denial of benefits or the good-faith grant of benefits later discovered to have been based on fraudulent IDs. In reply, under Republic Act (RA) No. 10754, 9442, and 7277, the presentation of a valid PWD ID is sufficient proof of entitlement to statutory benefits, and the law does not require prior verification as a condition for granting such privileges. Consequently, establishments may not withhold or deny PWD benefits merely because verification is unavailable, inconclusive, or suggests possible fraud, as doing so would contravene the rights granted to PWDs under social welfare legislation. While establishments may subsequently verify PWD IDs and pursue appropriate complaints against fraudulent users, such verification must comply with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and cannot be used as a basis for refusing benefits at the point of sale. Further, in the absence of a specific statutory standard, establishments are expected to exercise the diligence of a good father of a family, limiting any verification to basic information such as the name of the cardholder, card number, and issuing authority. As to liability, the improper denial of PWD benefits may subject violators to the penalties imposed under RA No. 9442, including fines, imprisonment, and possible cancellation of business permits, while the issuance and use of fraudulent PWD IDs may give rise to criminal liability under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the provisions on falsification under the Revised Penal Code. Thus, merchants cannot lawfully withhold the grant of statutory PWD benefits on the basis of verification issues involving allegedly fake or invalid PWD IDs. [DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LEGAL OPINION NO. 25, SERIES OF 2026, OCTOBER 8, 2026]


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