Small Business Owner Expresses Concern Over Heavy Taxes and Expenses
A small business owner shared his frustrations online about the heavy taxes and expenses that eat up most of his earnings.
Recently, Chicoi Gonzales, a Facebook user, voiced his concern over taxes and shared the struggles of many Filipino entrepreneurs. The post garnered various reactions from the social media users.
Gonzales laid out the breakdown of his daily earnings to show how little actually remains after taxes, operating costs, and other expenses. He explained that on a day when his store made P75,000 in sales, almost every peso had already been allocated to different obligations before he could even consider it as profit.
From that amount, P9,000 went to VAT, while another P562 went to the city hall. Around P48,750 was paid to suppliers, who were not VAT-registered. Employee salaries, including security staff, amounted to P12,000 for the day.
Rent cost P5,000, electricity about P2,000, and water P1,100. On top of that, there were advertising expenses of P1,000, subscriptions to apps, platform fees, and the natural depreciation of equipment and supplies used in daily operations.
The business owner also pointed out that they still have to pay an accounting firm to prepare reports for submission to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). Even after covering all these expenses, there is still income tax to be paid, and if he withdraws earnings as dividends, that would be taxed again at 10 percent.
“Malalaman pa po kung may income kasi mag income tax naman tayo kapag may kinita.
Tapos kung kukuha naman ako ng pera itatax nyo rin yun ng 10% as dividend income no?” he said.
Gonzales reiterated that small businesses also need something left for themselves. Many online users sympathized with him, saying his post exposes the reality of running a small business in the country.
In another post, a business owner celebrates small win “may signage na kami”
The online community expressed their reactions to the post:
