Are the earnings of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) subject to tax?

For most Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), their earnings from abroad are exempt from Philippine income tax under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) and BIR regulations, as long as:

1. You are a non-resident citizen – An OFW is classified as a non-resident citizen if they work and derive income outside the Philippines.

2. The income is from abroad – Only income from sources within the Philippines is taxable. Salaries/wages earned from foreign employers abroad are not considered Philippine-sourced.

   
   

What is NOT taxed:

• Salaries, wages, and allowances received from a foreign employer abroad.

What can still be taxed:

• Income earned within the Philippines (e.g., rental income from property in PH, business in PH).

• Passive income from PH sources (e.g., bank interest, dividends, royalties) – subject to final tax.

Important Notes:

• OFWs are not required to pay income tax on foreign earnings, but if they earn in PH (side business, investments, rentals), they must file and pay for that income.

• OFWs still need to pay PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and SSS contributions (if voluntary or mandatory for OEC processing).

Source: Ziggurat Real Estate

Filipinos struggling on meager income

IBON Foundation said that involuntary hunger doubled under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In a statement, IBON said the administration failed to ensure higher wages and low prices.

"The rise in hunger is a wake-up call that many Filipinos are struggling on meager incomes and the high cost of living. This shows government's rhetoric of economic gains and a robust jobs market is empty — just like the bellies of millions of hungry Filipinos," the group said.

Citing figures from a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, the number of Filipinos experiencing involuntary hunger more than doubled since the start of the Marcos administration, from 11.6 percent or 2.9 million families in June 2022 to 27.2 percent or 7.5 million families in March of this year.

IBON said the average daily minimum wage of P469 falls way below the P1,227 family living wage needed by a family of five, as of February this year.

"An indirect indicator of low incomes is the number of households without savings in any form increasing to 20.1 million, or 74 percent of the total, in the fourth quarter of 2024, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.

Meanwhile, the overall price level of food has increased by 16 percent between June 2022 and February 2025, according to inflation data from the Philippine Statistics Authority," it said in a statement.

The group said that "persistent low incomes and high prices" are also behind the rise in hunger.

Source: Business World

The world’s ultra-rich are most likely to live in these 50 cities

The United Nations (UN) has declared October 31 World Cities Day. Its aim is to create awareness of the role of urbanization in global sustainable development and social inclusion.

One way to measure the economic vitality of a city is to tally how many super-wealthy folks opt to live and do business there.

This graphic shows where the planet’s 28,420 centimillionaires—people with $100 million or more in investable assets—are most likely to cluster, and how fast each city’s ranks of the rich are projected to grow.

Source: Fortune