BIR keeps an eye on Davao City’s Chinatown

Last Friday, Bureau of Internal Revenue officials disclosed that some of the business establishments at Chinatown in Davao City may not be complying with the country’s tax laws. They also bared that most of the stores in Chinatown are not issuing official receipts to their customers.

If we need cheap hardware tools and some stuffs need at home, we actually find them at the stores in Chinatown here in Davao. The stores there do not actually issue receipts; you can even ask for a discount on selected items. It’s like: Name it, they have it.

Most of the Chinese traders in the area don’t speak English or Tagalog. I wonder how they communicate with their workers. I have some owners  give instruction through hand signals to their workers.

The BIR said that the wholesale dealers declared only an annual income of P1.5 million. It is under-declared, the BIR suspects. I believe too that  the figure is under-declared.  I have seen several wholesale dealers in DCLA and 168 Mall.

There is a store in DCLA that if you’re not a wholesale buyer, sales clerks won’t allow you to enter in some portions of the store.  They will not allow you to pick some items, they want to do it for you.  Weird.

Newsmaker: Koala bear

Koala bear stuff toys displayed at “ukay-ukay” stalls in Uyanguren area of Davao City. We were looking for stuff toys for our dogs at home when we stumbled upon on these popular Koala bears — this was how Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin described the alleged witness to the election fraud.  Unlike in the past, you would only find “ukay-ukay” shirts and pants. But these days, everything is almost there in “ukay-ukay” stalls.

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