Western Union adds Documentary Stamp Tax

This was just informed to me by the Western Union branch I frequent — WU will start charging for Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) from July 1, 2008 and onwards.

DST rates aren’t that high though. The announcement says it’s Php0.30USD 0.01INR 0.43EUR 0.00CNY 0.04 for every Php200USD 3INR 289EUR 3CNY 25 or just about 0.15% of total amount remitted.

Here’s a sample computation they gave:

Amount Remitted: Php2,000USD 34INR 2,889EUR 32CNY 248
DST Deduction: Php3.00USD 0.05INR 4EUR 0.05CNY 0.37

Amount Remitted: Php10,000USD 170INR 14,446EUR 162CNY 1,241
DST Deduction: Php15.00USD 0.26INR 22EUR 0.24CNY 2

Amount Remitted: Php50,000USD 852INR 72,230EUR 812CNY 6,205
DST Deduction: Php75.00USD 1INR 108EUR 1CNY 9

Amount Remitted: Php100,000USD 1,704INR 144,460EUR 1,623CNY 12,410
DST Deduction: Php150.00USD 3INR 217EUR 2CNY 19

And yes, this includes all AdSense Publishers who opted to get remittance via Western Union (DST Section 18 of the 1997 Tax Code, Republic Act 9243).

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

29 Comments

Jan Alvin says:

17 years ago

That really hurts, the deduction is higher than the remittance!!

I think that is n abuse, I think the demand for their remittance service is not that high. Why would they increase that much??
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Philippine Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering Forum says:

17 years ago

bakit ngayon lang sila nag-charge? at bakit naisipan kaya nila mag-charge.
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Abe Olandres says:

17 years ago

Apparently, it’s only now that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has sent out the circular. It means, whatever is collected here will be remitted to the government.
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Erin says:

17 years ago

@alvin: re: “the deduction is higher than the remittance” – how did you come by that? the DST is about 0.15% of total amount so that can’t be true unless you count the fees as deductions and the remitted amount is less than the fees imposed.

ciao!
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rasta80 says:

17 years ago

Is this another way of making money for the government which will just be corrupted by our government officials? Bakit nila ginawa ito? Alam naman nila na ang pera na pinapadala natin sa Pinas kinakailangan yun, lalo lang maghihirap ang mga tao sa atin na pati pinapadala nating pera na produkto ng dugo at pawis natin ay kinakaltasan pa. Alam naman natin kung saan na naman mapunta ang pera na makukulekta nito, sa bulsa nga mga bwayang government officials. Madam President, maawa naman po kayo sa mga OFW, isinakripisyo na nga namin ang aming mga buhay dito sa ibayong dagat, pati kami, kukurakutin nyo pa…Sanay mabalik sa inyo ang karma…
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jun asis says:

17 years ago

Yup. Just encashed my adsense last July 1. From $106 (after several months hahaha), it went down to $105.84. Not really a big dent.
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Jan Alvin says:

17 years ago

@Erin, ahh ganun pala yun, sorry misunderstanding. :-)
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Animohosting.com says:

17 years ago

oh my. i thing western union should reduce it
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shannon says:

17 years ago

nako, mabuti nalang nag cash out ako ng june 30 ng adsense ko. ahahhaa… pero sayang pa rin.
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Rex says:

17 years ago

Isn’t the tax better off shouldered by the sender instead of the receiver?
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