Digital Photo Printing As A Service Of An I-Café

With very stiff competition going on among i-cafés especially those functioning as entertainment centers, the need to engage in services that could add revenue and income is getting to be a must for those already in business. Among the many services that can be added to an i-café business is digital photo printing. Aside from the not so big additional investment needed, the skill required for one to do the service is not high and the demand is always there in many areas of the country. Filipinos are known to be fond of keeping souvenirs of celebrations and events and with the prevalent use of cellphones with camera (camphones) and digital cameras (digicams)nowadays, digital photo printing as a service is a logical choice for an i-café owner to consider.

The I-Café As An Entertainment Center

The internet café as an entertainment center is the most common business model for i-cafés nowadays. By entertainment, we mean the customers coming into an i-café for the purpose of doing something affording pleasure, diversion or amusement for themselves. While the earlier internet cafés were established mainly as information exchange centers with productive results expected out of the activities that the customers will do in its premises, recent ones were mostly catering to the leisure needs of its clients. The customers of i-cafés functioning as entertainment centers come in to play online and offline games, chat online with friends and relatives, check and reply to their emails and do social networking.

Securing Business Permit Of An I-Café From An LGU

Unless the process being followed by the local government unit (LGU) allows a business to be registered with other government agencies later, the Business Permit (sometimes called Mayor's Permit) is the last to be secured by an i-café owner before he can operate his shop legally. The procedure in securing the business permit of an i-café from an LGU is more or less similar in most cities and municipalities in the country. The requirements, fees and taxes being imposed on the business may also vary depending on how the LGUs implement the provisions of The Local Government Code of the Philippines in their respective areas.

The Business or Mayor's Permit is issued by the city or town where the i-café business is located after its owner has paid the fees being imposed by the different departments of the LGU aside from the local tax based on paid-up capital by the first-time business registrants and on annual gross revenues for those renewing their business permits. The usual fees, clearances and/or certificates that an LGU may require before a Business Permit is issued to an i-café are as follows:

Registering An I-Café With Other Government Agencies

Aside from the BIR, the local government unit (LGU) where a new i-café will be located may require its owner to have it registered with the Social Security System (SSS), Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth. Even though you may not be asked to register your business with the said government agencies, it is advisable that you do so because their clearances may be required when you renew your business license in the succeeding year and every year thereafter. After all, the insurance services that these government agencies offer to its members are really beneficial to everyone.

The mandate of Social Security System to implement the compulsory social insurance coverage of workers and employees of existing businesses in the country is contained in Republic Act No. 8282 or Social Security Act of 1997. Section 9 of the said law says  coverage in the SSS shall be compulsory upon all employees not over sixty (60) years of age while Section 9-A on Compulsory Coverage of the Self-Employed provides that coverage in the SSS shall also be compulsory upon self-employed persons including partners and single proprietors of businesses.

Registering An I-Café With BIR

This is one step in the registration and legal operation of a business that many forget to do or intentionally do not do because they want to evade paying taxes. It is not only the i-café owners who are guilty of non-registration with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) but mostly those in businesses who believe they can escape paying taxes or pay their way out when caught. The guilt in the commission of the crime of tax evasion is not one-way. Many times, the BIR people are themselves to be blamed for not doing their jobs of running after the tax evaders, big or small.

An i-café or any business for that matter must be registered with the BIR within thirty (30) days after its registration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for single-owned enterprise or Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a corporation. A one thousand (PhP1,000.00) peso penalty will be charged to the business who fails to register his business with BIR within the 30-day prescribed period. The same amount of penalty (PhP1,000.00) will have to be paid by a business owner if he fails to pay and/or file the appropriate BIR Forms for the various taxes that will be specified in his certificate of registration (COR).