Jollibee Group Recognized as among Top Taxpayers in Pasig City

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto (third from left) and Vice Mayor Robert Jaworski, Jr. (fifth from left) lead the recognition of the city’s top taxpayers. Receiving the award on behalf of the Jollibee Group were Clarisa Guerra, Jollibee Worldwide Services Director of Tax Services (fourth from left); and Atty. Anna Marie Curan, Jollibee Group Corporate Tax Manager (second from left)

MANILA, Philippines. – The Jollibee Group was named the top fifth business taxpayer in Pasig City for 2023, further reinforcing its commitment to contribute to nation-building. 

The awarding ceremony, themed "One of the Pillars of Progress: Honoring our Tax Contributors," was held at The Grove by Rockwell. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Vice Mayor Robert Jaworski, Jr., and the Pasig City Council recognized the city’s top taxpayers who contributed to the city's programs and services through fast and efficient payment of due taxes.

“As a company proudly founded in the Philippines, we share in the role of nation-building. We do this not only by growing our business and serving food that brings joy to Filipinos but also by being a responsible taxpayer and corporate citizen,” shared Joseph Tanbuntiong, Jollibee Group Chief Business Officer and Head of Jollibee Group’s Philippine Business. We remain committed to supporting the government’s programs that help uplift the lives of our fellow Filipinos.”

The Jollibee Group’s Philippine portfolio includes well-loved brands such as Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Mang Inasal, and Red Ribbon. As of December 2023, the Company has over 3,300 stores in the country.

Pay your BIR taxes with GCash

Paying taxes during the lockdown can be quite challenging. With time ticking and social distancing to be followed, GCash has made it possible for citizens to safely and securely pay their income taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) – no need to line up or go to the BIR office!

With the deadline for paying income taxes looming on April 15, there’s no need to stress or panic because paying taxes is now so easy and convenient. All one has to do is download the GCash app on their mobile phones. Once they’ve registered their information, they are ready to make the payment with BIR.

To make the payment on the GCash app, select Pay Bills. From Pay Bills, customers choose the category of Government and select BIR for payment.

Customers must input the details: BIR Form, Return Period, TIN, the branch code, amount, and email address. Once all details are confirmed, just press the payment button and it's all done. Just make sure to save a screenshot of the payment.

Payment will be confirmed in 3 days. The best part – it’s free of charge.

So, paying your taxes? I-GCash mo na yan! For more information, log on to www.gcash.com.

LexMeet App Offers Easy Access to Lawyers, Affordable Legal Consultations Right At Your Fingertips

Seeking legal advice on lawyers is now made more convenient and affordable as LexMeet (www.lexmeet.com), a real-time on-demand online legal consultation webspace where lawyers and clients meet to solve legal problems is now launching its mobile application.

Starting November 2018, the LexMeet App can now be downloaded in Google Play (http://bit.ly/LexMeetbeta) and its IOS version will be soon available for download in App Store.

LexMeet solves difficulties on clients getting proper guidance on their problems that need legal remedies. Aside from fake attorneys lurking in the web as well as the nuances of Philippine law, there are also the rampant misinterpretations of common legal issues that just add unnecessary confusion to a prospective client seeking legal advice. In addition, the lack of access—physical or online—to a lawyer also compounds the issue, especially for Filipinos working overseas. All these concerns are what LexMeet wants to address - lawyer and legal service accessibility to the masses -  by making online legal consultations readily available for Filipinos everywhere without breaking the bank.

Using the LexMeet app couldn’t be any simpler. After the client registered their personal details for free, they can purchase credits—for as low as P500- via Paypal, Dragonpay, Coins.Ph and later on Google Pay payment gateways. Clients can initiate a legal consultation request where LexMeet will match their legal problem with a lawyer specialists that meets their requirements. Example, when a client submits his/her legal problem about the title of his/her condominium unit, LexMeet gives him/her a lawyers list with  specialisation in Condominium Law. Clients have to submit in advance their legal inquiries and provide their stories, objectives and questions as well as supporting documents through LexMeet sign-up forms. All consultations are conducted over video or voice call— possibly imposing for non-tech-savvy folk, but nevertheless more effective than a lifeless chat window. Their credits are automatically paid to their matched lawyer after the meeting ends. Ratings and feedback mechanism help ensure that LexMeet’s crowdsourced network of 250 lawyers provide quality consults, which seems to be the case as it boasts over 7,500 clients and counting.

LexMeet, a wordplay on the Latin word for “law” and workplace verbatim for setting office meetings is founded by Atty. Marlon Valderama, Managing Partner of Valderama Law Office and the country's pioneer when it comes to e-lawyering. He introduced the e-lawyering concept as early as 2010 in his law office website, E-Lawyers Online.

“LexMeet serves as the Uber of lawyers, where client can seek lawyer’s advice by a mere click. Instead of a Uber vehicle matching with the nearest rider, LexMeet is where client’s legal problem is matched with the lawyer’s expertise, location and language and we serve as a bridge for them to meet via video or call conference,” Atty. Valderama said.

Since its inception in 2017, Lexmeet serves as the online go-to-place by OFWs and SMEs.

“As we all know, Philippines have more than 10.23 million migrant workers scattered all over the world. With Filipino diaspora, there is a demand for legal services for the legal issues left behind by our migrant workers such as marriage, support and custody issues, inheritance, investments, among others. Also, we have so many SMEs, almost 1M now, who are needing legal guidance from lawyers. The lack of online facility to help our OFWs and SMEs in solving their legal problems is our prime motivation on establishing a primary hub of e-lawyering, ” Atty. Valderama explained.

LexMeet has been recently awarded as the Best Life Helper in 2018 ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards as it was recognize in its promising goal in making legal consultations inclusive for all Filipinos.

Fore more information, visit www.lexmeet.com.

LLC Formation and EIN Application

What is a Federal Tax Identification Number? A Federal Tax Identification Number is also known as the Employer Identification Number (EIN). This number is used to identify a business entity by the Internal Revenue Service. Businesses need an EIN to file their tax returns. Those who do not qualify for a SSN or the Social Security Number are required to apply for an EIN.

A Federal Tax ID application can be done in various ways, and one of them is applying online. Once your company has been formed and approved, you can apply for your EIN number which can be done via telephone, fax, and postal mail or online. Before you proceed with your EIN application, you will have to know your business entity type.

If you are not sure of your business entity type, you can visit the website of Gov Doc Filing to take a simple survey to confirm the entity type. After the online filing is done, the experts from Gov Doc Filing will help you with the filing processes of obtaining an EIN.

Once an EIN is issued to a business by the Internal Revenue Service, the EIN has no expiry date. A new EIN is only required:
For sole proprietors if you incorporate or if you take in partners and operate as a partnership. Or if you purchase or inherit an existing business that you operate as a sole proprietorship.

For corporations if you change to a partnership or a sole proprietorship or if a new corporation is created after a statutory merger.

For partnership if you incorporate or if your partnership is taken over by one of the partners and is operated as a sole proprietorship. A new EIN is required if you end an old partnership and begin a new one.

For Limited Liability Company (LLC) if you have more than one owner. Or if a new LLC with one owner chooses to be taxed as a corporation or as an S corporation.

Some of the benefits of setting up an LLC:
The cost of an LLC application is cheaper than a corporation.
The members or owners of a limited liability company are protected against the financial and legal obligations of their company. In case the company goes bankrupt or gets involved in a financial lawsuit, the personal assets of the members will not be seized.
A Limited Liability Company can be managed as a partnership, or as a corporation.