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Phl mulls listing, tax hike on e-games
The Freeman
|July 19, 2025
The Philippine government is considering sweeping reforms for online gambling operators, including mandatory stock exchange listings and increased taxes, in a bid to tighten oversight and reduce the social costs of gambling addiction.
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Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said the Department of Finance is proposing new taxes and licensing fees for digital gaming firms, with support from President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
“We can force them to list so that we know who the people behind it are,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “It becomes more transparent.”
If implemented, the move will place online gaming platforms under similar public scrutiny as listed firms like Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and DigiPlus Interactive Corp., which operate ArenaPlus, BingoPlus and GameZone.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) collects a 30% rate from e-gaming platforms, while the Bureau of Internal Revenue imposes an additional 5% franchise tax and a 3% auditing fee, bringing the total effective rate to about 38%.
“We may increase that even further,” Mr. Recto said, hinting at a broader effort to boost government revenue and disincentivize unregulated gambling.
This story is from the July 19, 2025 edition of The Freeman.
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