HB No. 04602 An Act Amending the Cooperative Code of the Philippines

HB No. 04602 An Act Amending the Cooperative Code of the Philippines it is to be known as “Philippine Cooperative Code of 2005”. This bill was calendared on August 24,2005 and approved on second reading on October 12, 2005. on the second reading the body approved to consider the explanatory note of the bill as the sponsorship remarks on the measure. Then the bill was presented and approved for the third reading last November 29, 2006, with House votes YES = 198, NO = 0, and Abstain = 0. On December 6, 2006 the Bill was transmitted to the Senate.

If you would like to get a copy of the Bill please locate our FICCO Management Group with the address: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/ficco and don’t forget to leave any comments if this site has been helpful.

FICCO Basketball Team

Cheers!!! This is FICCO's Basketball Team Champion of the recently concluded Director's Cup Basketball League. From the four clustered teams the league was ended by the Central Cluster as Champion for 2006. The team is headed by BM Egay Micayabas and Coach by Agripino Pacuribot.

Its team members in the picture (from left) Peter Taban, Ramil Obsioma, Neil Jamito, Titing Samuya, Agripino Pacuribot, Egay Micayabas, Alvin Gulayao, Allan Waban, Peejay Menciano, & Michael Alilin, (seated from left) Rolando Mapa & Chael Baritua.

Kudos! from the employees and staff of the Central Cluster, Our presence may not be there during the tourney but we join you in the Celebration (So... asa ta kaon?).

Congrats! Central Cluster!

Co-ops urge gov’t to define their tax obligations

The Country’s Union of Cooperatives has turned to the department of Finance and its attached agency, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, for help in clearing up the tax obligations slapped on member organizations nationwide.

Also, the 22,000-accredited cooperatives grouped under the Philippine Cooperative Center (PCC) have submitted to the DOF and BIR a 100-page primer outlining the tax exemptions and compliance of cooperatives.

According to PCC chair Senen Bacani, the cooperatives group deemed it necessary to issue the primer citing the difficulty some of the members are having in dealing with tax collectors, who appear to have different interpretations of the tax code on cooperatives.

The PCC is hoping that the primer will meet the approval of the DOF and BIR and adopt it “for the uniform guidance of all cooperatives and tax collecting agents,” Bacani said in an interview.

Lecira Juarez, Cooperative Development Authority Chair, said that, despite the clear exemptions of cooperatives from taxes, many cooperatives are still swamped with deficiency tax assessment from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“Should these cooperatives be made liable for taxes, even if the exemption is clearly provided in the law?” Juarez asked.

To encourage their formation, cooperatives were granted incentives under the Cooperative Code. The incentive depends on whether the cooperative does business exclusively with members or deals with non-members.

Tax expert Recel P. Cachuela from the Punongbayan-Araullo audit firm, said that “if the cooperatives are to be considered vehicles for promoting self-reliance aimed towards the attainment of economic development and social justice, [the organization] should be accorded benefits clearly intended by law.”

Note: The above article is an excerpt from Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) dated October 30, 2006. By Christine A. Gaylican.