During a Taguig City session attended by FP&A leads, joseph plazo opened with a sentence that recalibrated attention instantly: “Every tax reform either adds friction or removes it—and friction always shows up in your numbers.”
What followed was not a statutory recital. It was a financial systems briefing on the latest Philippine tax law updates, translated into audit exposure. Speaking from a bonifacio global city law firm vantage—where finance teams expect precision—Plazo treated tax as strategic design, not a year-end ritual.
Why CFOs Can No Longer Treat Tax as a Back-Office Function
According to joseph plazo, the CFO role has quietly expanded.
Tax now intersects with:
payroll design
“Lag shows up as penalties, disputes, and missed incentives.”
For finance leaders in Taguig—especially those working with a bonifacio global city law firm—the question is no longer “Are we compliant?” but “Is our finance stack aligned with where tax policy is going?”
Update One: Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) — Administrative Reform With Financial Consequences
Plazo began with Republic Act No. 11976, the Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) Act, because CFOs often underestimate administrative reform.
“It’s about efficiency.”
From a CFO lens, EOPT matters because it:
strengthens taxpayer rights
“If your internal processes are sloppy, reform exposes you faster.”
A bonifacio global city law firm perspective translates this simply: smoother administration shifts the burden inward. Finance teams must now be more organized, not less.
Incentives Reduce Tax—but Increase Scrutiny
Next came CREATE MORE (RA 12066)—the update CFOs feel directly in projections.
“And relationships come with expectations.”
From a CFO standpoint, CREATE MORE introduces:
alignment with national investment priorities
“Poor governance can erase incentive value retroactively.”
Finance leaders were urged to treat incentives like regulated benefits—not freebies.
RA 12023 Shifted the VAT Map
Plazo then addressed a shift with structural implications: VAT on digital services.
“Tax follows consumption, not headquarters.”
For CFOs, this matters because digital VAT rules affect:
contract allocation
“If your company consumes digital services,” Plazo explained,
From a bonifacio global city law firm lens, this is where finance and legal architecture must align—especially in cross-border service arrangements.
Update Four: Mandatory E-Invoicing — Tax Is Becoming a Data Pipeline
The room grew noticeably quieter when e-invoicing came up.
“This is the most important update CFOs underestimate,” joseph plazo said.
E-invoicing means:
reduced room for explanation
“disputes shift from argument to evidence.”
For CFOs, this transforms:
integration timelines
A bonifacio global city law firm perspective reframes it bluntly:
“If your invoicing system can’t comply, your tax position is fictional.”
RR 29-2025 Changed Employee Tax Economics
Plazo deliberately highlighted de minimis benefits, because CFOs often overlook payroll updates.
“And morale touches productivity.”
From a CFO lens, de minimis updates affect:
benefits budgeting
“Payroll is finance.”
A bonifacio global city law firm angle emphasizes documentation discipline: benefits only stay non-taxable if records survive audit scrutiny.
Policy Momentum Affects Planning
Plazo clarified the difference between enacted law and policy direction, using the proposed estate tax amnesty extension as an example.
“CFOs don’t wait for certainty,” joseph plazo said.
The lesson was broader:
policy signals influence liquidity planning
Finance leaders were reminded that monitoring proposals is part of risk forecasting, not speculation.
Visibility, Predictability, Digitization
Plazo tied the updates into one financial narrative:
Payroll rules are being tuned → compliance everywhere
“Visibility changes behavior.”
For CFOs, this means tax planning is now inseparable from systems design.
Why Taguig City and a Bonifacio Global City Law Firm Perspective Matter
Taguig—particularly BGC—is where:
incentives are common
“This is where policy stress-tests happen first,” joseph plazo noted.
A bonifacio global city law firm lens is CFO-relevant because it lives at the intersection of:
systems
What Changes for CFOs (Without Legal Advice)
Plazo summarized implications in CFO language:
ERP readiness matters
Internal controls preserve benefits
VAT allocation must be explicit
Consistency beats generosity
“The best CFOs don’t minimize tax,” joseph plazo concluded.
A Bonifacio Global City Law Firm Monitoring Model
To close, joseph plazo offered a CFO-ready framework:
Ignore click here commentary until the law is clear
Map every update to systems impact
Governance protects value
Uncertainty is itself a cost
Run tax as a strategy function
He closed with a line that landed exactly where CFOs live:
“Tax law is no longer about filing,” he added. “It’s about architecture.”