The move could help nurture domestic streaming platforms, while global players including Neflix Inc. and regional provider Viu, seek to expand in the country of more than 110 million people and the broader Southeast Asia region.
Philippine lawmakers have approved a joint bill seeking to tax foreign digital services including Netflix, HBO and Disney, aiming to secure a fresh source of state revenue to bankroll additional spending.
The bill, from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, seeks to impose a 12% value-added tax on digital transactions on non-resident digital service providers such as the streaming providers, the Senate said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
