[World Tax News] Panama | Pakistan | Philippines Announce Key Tax Updates

Editorial Team – [2025] 176 taxmann.com 790 (Article)

World Tax News provides a weekly snippet of tax news from around the globe. Here is a glimpse of the tax happening in the world this week:

1. Panama revokes longer timeframes for amending tax treaty benefit claims

On 16 July 2025, Panama published Resolution No. 201-5822 dated 10 July 2025 in Official Gazette No. 30323. This resolution repeals Resolution No. 201-2232, issued on March 16, 2023, which governed the process for requesting extensions related to claiming tax treaty benefits.

Under the now-repealed Resolution No. 201-2232, taxpayers were permitted up to three separate two-month extensions to submit or rectify missing documentation required for accessing treaty benefits.

With the issuance of Resolution No. 201-5822, the extension period has been significantly reduced. Taxpayers are now granted an initial 10-day extension, which may be further extended up to a maximum of 30 days.

Source – Official Gazette No. 30323

2. Google exempted from Pakistan’s new Digital Presence Proceeds Tax (DPPT)

As per recent reports, Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a communication to Google stating that the company will not fall within the scope of the newly introduced Digital Presence Proceeds Tax (DPPT).

Introduced through the Finance Act, 2025, the DPPT imposes a 5% tax on the provision of goods and services by vendors having a significant digital footprint in Pakistan. However, since Google operates through a registered branch office in Pakistan and qualifies as a tax resident, it is exempt from the application of DPPT. Specifically, the tax does not apply to payments for digitally ordered goods where such payments are effectively linked to a Pakistani branch and the goods are supplied from within the country.

Similarly, the DPPT does not cover payments for digitally delivered services that are received in Pakistan and provided through a local branch office.

Source – Finance Act 2025

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