Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Deputy Commissioner Estela Sales reported that the BIR is currently in the process of a nationwide hunt to uncover unregistered English schools that have been hiding behind the façade of dorms and restaurants catering to foreigners.
These English language schools, mostly run by foreign nationals, are operating without official permits and licenses and are evading their income tax obligations. Sales stated that once these foreign principals are caught, they will be immediately deported “without prejudice to their tax liability.”
Having been declared as a major hub in English language training, Sales claims that the Philippines and the Filipino people should benefit from this profitable industry. At present, a Filipino teacher of English earns only P70 to P100 per hour of service. Some Filipinos who teach using Skype have also complained that their employers hold back a portion of their salaries as income tax, when in reality these businesses have no proper registration with the BIR.
British Broadcasting Co. (BBC) recently reported that the Philippines offers the cheapest English language training compared to other countries like the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. In this regard, application for student visas to the country have soared from 8,000 in 2008 to 24,000 in 2011, based on BIR data.
A study by Global English Corp. also showed that the Philippines is the world’s most proficient country in business English, even overtaking the US, Interaksyon.com reported.
