B&B advises MNC’s on tax-efficient structuring of cross-border investments, including optimum use of tax treaties, choosing business vehicles, and tax-efficient profit repatriation strategies. B&B is routinely called upon to provide advice to multinational companies with established international operations on the Philippine tax aspects of restructuring existing foreign operations.

B&B also advises on withholding tax issues confronting foreign corporations investing in the Philippines or Philippine companies making income payments to foreign persons. Where Philippine withholding tax rules interact with tax treaty provisions, B&B advises clients on substantive treaty issues and assists them in securing treaty benefits by filing tax treaty relief applications on behalf of clients with the International Tax Affairs Division of the BIR.

NOTABLE REPRESENTATIONS:

• Obtained a number of precedent-setting rulings from the BIR involving the interpretation of tax treaty provisions such as the permanent establishment, capital gains exemption, royalties and interest clauses.
• Successfully litigated a case involving the interpretation and application of the “most-favored nation” clause of the RP-US Tax Treaty in regard to royalties, with many similarly situated US corporations later invoking the said decision in support of their refund/tax credit claims.
• Represented before the Court of Tax Appeals and the Supreme Court some offline international air carriers in challenging the applicability of the 2.5% Gross Philippine Billings Tax to offline carriers.