Category: Investing

Are OFW’s Really Not Required to File Income Tax Returns?

April 15 has always been headache for me from my years of being a slave junior auditor in Deloitte up to the years burning my seat as an accounting & finance professional in various companies. The BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and this horrendous date of the year have brought me either nightmares or sleepless nights. You should know what I mean.

Thank God I am now an OFW! I have somehow been freed from this April 15 curse. But am I really exempted from all these annual tax filing commotions?

The Revenue Regulation No. 1-2011 issued by the BIR defines that OFWs are exempt from paying income taxes for income earned abroad. However, the burden of proof is on the OFW’s themselves as they must show proof that they are registered as OCWs (overseas contract workers) or OFW’s with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and have a valid Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC).

So fellow OFWs, don’t lose those OEC’s! Continue reading Are OFW’s Really Not Required to File Income Tax Returns?

Dividends: Your Other Blessing in the Stock Market

When you invest in the stock market and become part of your chosen company’s continuing growth, you will earn mainly in two ways: through capital or price appreciation and through dividends.

Capital or price appreciation is an increase in the market price of your stock over time brought about by an increase in its potential value and the demand to buy its shares. The faster a company can grow, the faster its price can appreciate.

Profitable corporations can also issue dividends, whether in cash (cash dividend) or in additional shares of stock (stock/rights dividend) as a means for shareholders to share in their distributed profits.

Dividends are given by top companies whenever they earn significant profits from their business in a particular period. The owners of these companies can decide whether to keep all their earnings and re-invest it in their business (retained earnings), or give a portion of the earnings to its shareholder members in the form of dividends.

Again, if you buy shares of a certain company, then you are a shareholder. And you are entitled to receive dividends if the company you are invested in declares that they will distribute so on a particular date directly credited to your portfolio. Continue reading Dividends: Your Other Blessing in the Stock Market

Why Do Stock Prices Go Up or Down?

Why go back to basics? Because only less than 1% of the Filipino population are investing. And it is presumed that almost half of that 1% are plainly putting in their money in financial instruments such as stocks without even knowing the basic principles and concepts of investing.

For the past two weeks, I have been receiving private messages from different people asking what makes stock prices move. The answer is simply because of supply and demand. Continue reading Why Do Stock Prices Go Up or Down?