Foreigner working in the Philippines?
big_j_gizzy asked:
Hi, I’m a US undergrad looking to move to the Philippines for the summer to be with my g/f. We are planning to set up a internet cafe business under her name since foreigners cannot own business there for the most situations. Would it technically be illegal for me to even help run the business at all? Any and all details on what I have to do, and if I could theoretically do it legally without paying taxes back to the US since the business is not under my name and I could basically pay myself under the table…haha
Related posts:
- Is it worth it to start a business in the Philippines? emartel01 asked: I want to know if it is worth...
- What is an “Internet Cafe”? SaraJess06 asked: I need details for a small business idea....
- I need a business plan? Or i need to know how to make my own business plan? Cameron Bryan asked: Hi, I am a student at a...
Filed Under Philippines |
Tagged With Internet Cafe, Own Business, Paying Taxes
Comments
3 Responses to “Foreigner working in the Philippines?”
You can get a work Visa but it is expensive more than likely it would cost as much as you are going to put in to your Internet Cafe. I attended a meeting last night in Davao about foreigners opening business’ in the Philippines. They had about six people who had opened business’ in the Philippines and had been open for three years or more. Everyone of them said it was a headache and you need to be prepared for it. One of the problems they all spoke about was the jealousy of their Philippine competitors. Everyone of them had been turned in repeatly for trumped up illegal practices in order to get government officials out to investigate and harrass them. One of them was paying his employees more than the Philippine employers were and he constantly had unofficial calls from government officials telling him to stop doing it. He finally was told by the Mayor of the city where he was that if he did not stop he would see that he was deported. He reduced the pay and then the employees filed on him with the labor department. There is a foreigner that has owned an Internet Cafe in Makati across from the Mall and he has been their for years. The business is in his wives name but he works their everyday and has not had any major problems over his working their. He does not show he is making anything from the business. His wife takes a salary. He says that the only problems he has encountered were the normal Philippine problems where some corrupt government employee was looking for a way to get a little money under the table. A foreigner can own 40 percent of a business. I spoke with an attorney friend of mine here and he said as long as a foreigner did not have their name on the business and made sure their was no records of them being paid anything they would most likely have no problem being involved in the business. There was always the possiblity that a disgruntle employee may turn you in or a disgruntle family member of your GF, but if their is no records then nothing could be done about it. He said just make sure you and your GF do not discuss with anyone what your business arrangement is. Good luck!
The internet cafe business is inded saturated. But if you make yours absolutely clean and friendly, I believe that you would succeed as there are many internet cafes who lack this kind of service. If you would like to teach,we are always looking to hire American Specialists. Our team is comprised of American and Filipino Americans who teach American Accent and Culture, Conversation Fluency, and Speech and Communication.
American Institute for English Proficiency, AIEP, Philippines
All i can say is, good luck…..not to rain on your parade but there’s tons of internet cafes abound, the Philippines are catching on these trends and a lot of people are copying each other’s business but you can try.
As far as not paying taxes back in the US….not sure about that.