PAGCOR announces tax rate reduction among PIGOs

The gambling regulator of the Philippines, PAGCOR, announced that local online gaming providers (PIGOs) will only have to pay a 35% tax rate going forward, as opposed to a 42.5% tax rate.

This action aims to counter the growing gray market inside the company. Alejandro Tengco, Chairman and CEO of PAGCOR, made the news during a panel discussion at London’s ICE VOX after interviews.

According to Tengco, licensed operators only account for 30% of the domestic online gaming industry in the Philippines, despite the PIGO sector’s staggering 90% year-over-year increase in 2023. This is partly due to the substantial taxes that these operators have already paid on their earnings. PAGCOR has already reduced the tax rate from around 58% to 42.5%, and it is now being reduced even more.

According to Tengco, the tax reduction is intended to encourage expansion amongst lawful license holders while also encouraging illicit businesses to apply for permits. Furthermore, he gave a status report on the offshore gaming sector, which was once referred to as POGO but is now called Internet gambling Licensees, or IGL. He claimed that attempts to halt unlawful activity had resulted in a significant drop in the number of permits.

Tengco also said that continuous attempts are being made to privatize PAGCOR’s forty-one independently operated casinos after restructuring them. This decision is consistent with his administration’s privatization push in response to criticism of the agency’s dual functions as regulator and operator. The privatization process is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 if PAGCOR’s charter is changed to clearly state its regulatory function.

Original story by: IAG