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These days, it seems the ATM is not anymore a free benefit afforded to bank customers. Indeed most, if not all, banks now
charge clients whenever they use ATMs to do withdrawals or even a simple balance inquiry.
The good thing is, these service charges are still waived whenever clients use their own bank’s ATM. But if the customer decides to use another bank’s ATM to do those transactions, the customer may be charged up to P15.00 per transaction.
Recently, several of the country’s biggest banks, including Metrobank (MBT), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Banco de Oro (BDO) and Security Bank (SECB) announced that they are increasing their ATM service charges for withdrawal and balance inquiry transactions.

New ATM withdrawal fees
Metrobank, for example, disclosed that effective October 1, 2013, their cardholders will pay P15.00 whenever they use other banks’ ATM to make a withdrawal. Previously, the charge was P11.00 for the said transaction.
Metrobank, however, will not increase the fee charged to customers who withdraw using the ATMs of Philippine Savings
Bank. The ATM withdrawal fee, whenever Metrobank clients use PSBank’s ATM, remains at P7.50.

Security Bank, meanwhile, announced that there will be an increase in the withdrawal fee for card holders of Security Bank CashLink, CashCard, GiftCard and its co-branded card variants whenever withdrawals are made from any ATM belonging to other banks. Previously the fee is P10.00 per transaction but will rise to P15.00 per withdrawal effective October 15, 2013.

Banco de Oro (BDO), for their part, will be charging ATM debit and cash cardholders withdrawing through any of the ATMs of BancNet, ExpressNet and MegaLink a fee of P15.00 per transaction starting November 4, 2013.

New Balance Inquiry fees
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), meanwhile, announced that they will hike the Balance Inquiry fee charged to BPI clients whenever they transact using Bancnet, Expressnet or MegaLink ATMs.
The new fee is P2.00 per balance inquiry, up from P1.50 previously.

The increased fee will take effect starting November 2, 2013.
Both banks reiterated that if their clients use the bank’s own ATM for any transaction, no fee will be charged.

With the increase in service charges, we now update our ATM Service Charges table which we posted back in May 2013.

This table summarized the ATM withdrawal and balance inquiry fees currently charged by Philippine banks.

ATM Service Charges of Philippine Banks

	Bank / Card	Withdrawal Fee	Balance Inquiry Fee
1	Allied Bank	P 10.00	P 1.00
2	Asia United Bank (AUB)	P 11.00	P 2.00
3	Banco de Oro (BDO) Cash Card	P 15.00	P 2.00
4	Banco de Oro (BDO) Debit Card	P 15.00	P 2.00
5	Banco de Oro (BDO) Smart Money	P 15.00	P 2.50
6	Bank of Commerce	P 11.00	P 2.00
7	Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)	P 15.00	P 2.00
8	BPI Family Savings Bank	P 15.00	P 1.50
9	Chinabank Savings	P 10.00	P 1.00
10	Chinatrust	P 12.00	P 2.00
11	Citibank Philippines	None	None
12	Citibank Savings	None	None
13	Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)	P 10.00	P 1.00
14	East West Bank	P 10.00	P 1.00
15	Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank)	P 10.00	P 1.00
16	Malayan Bank	P 12.00	P 1.00
17	Maybank Philippines	P 11.00	P 2.00
18	Metrobank	P 15.00	P 2.00
19	Philippine Bank of Communications (PBComm)	P 10.00	P 1.00
20	Philippine Business Bank	P 11.00	P 1.00
21	Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank)	P 11.00	P 2.00
22	Philippine Veterans Bank	P 10.00	P 2.00
23	Planters Development Bank	P 11.00	P 2.00
24	Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC)	P 12.00	P 2.00
25	RCBC Savings Bank	P 12.00	P 2.00
26	Robinsons Bank	P 11.00	P 2.00
27	Security Bank	P 15.00	P 1.00
28	Standard Chartered Bank	P 10.00	P 1.00
29	Sterling Bank	P 10.00	P 1.00
30	Unionbank of the Philippines	P 12.00	P 2.00
31	United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB)	P 11.00	P 2.00

Update (September 26, 2013): The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered banks to indefinitely suspend the implementation of the ATM fee increase. The BSP said further study will be conducted first before a final decision is made to allow banks to increase their ATM fees.

This is good news for now. We wait until the BSP issues the final directive in the future.
 

The only things certain in life, they say, are death and taxes, but there are several countries in the world where you won’t have to worry about personal income taxes.

The list below identifies a few countries that do not impose income taxes among its people. Scroll down to find out where they are and perhaps you can decide to move there in case you want to escape the burden of paying any income tax.



Nine (9) Countries that Do Not Charge Individual Income Taxes
1. Bahamas
This wealthy Caribbean nation derives income primarily from tourism and financial services. In 2012, the country’s GDP per
capita is $31,000. Tourism accounts for over 60% of the Bahamas GDP, but provides jobs for more than half the country’s workforce. Financial services account for more than 15% of GDP.

The Bahamas does not charge income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, value-added tax (VAT), or wealth tax. About 70% of government revenue comes from duties and tariffs on imported goods. The country also has a property tax of up to 1%. Although there are no individual income tax, employees are deducted 3.9% of their salary, up to $26,000 annually, for social security benefits. The employer counterpart is 5.9% of a worker’s salary. Self-employed individuals are charged 8.8% for National Insurance.


2. Bahrain

Like most Middle East nations, Bahrain relies on oil for income. Petroleum production and processing is the country’s most lucrative industry, accounting for 60% of total exports, 70% of government revenues, and 11% of the country’s GDP. In 2011, Bahrain’s GDP per capita is $27,500.

There is no income taxes imposed on individuals, but Bahrain charges indirect taxes such as stamp duty on real estate transfers of up to 3% of the value of the property. Foreign expatriates are also required to pay a 10% municipal tax to rent a residence in Bahrain.

Citizens contribute 7% of their salaries for social security benefits, while expatriates pay 1%. Employers’ counterpart contribution is 12% of a citizen’s income for social insurance and 3% for expatriate employees.

3. Bermuda

Bermuda is is a British Overseas Territory located off the east coast of the United States. Its GDP per capita is one of the highest in world, reaching $97,000 in 2009. It is a popular offshore banking destination and is usually chosen by multinational companies as place of registration for tax avoidance purposes.

There are no personal income taxes in Bermuda but revenues come mainly from indirect taxation. Individuals relocating to the country are charged 25% for goods they bring. Property tax of up to 19% is charged on the annual rental value of a real estate property. A documentary stamp tax also applies to inheritance/estates from 5% to 20% depending on the value of the real estate. Low taxes may entice workers to relocate there, but the government charges $20,000 for a 10-year work permit in Bermuda.

4. Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory located in the western Caribbean Sea. It is one of the world’s wealthiest sovereign states, recording a high GDP per capita of $43,800. The Cayman Islands’ primary industries are tourism and the financial services. The state holds the fifth largest banking center in the world, with banks in Cayman Islands holding more than $1.5 trillion in deposit liabilities.

There is zero income tax, capital gains tax, value added tax, or government sales tax in the Cayman Islands. There are also no deductions to an employee’s salary because social security contributions are not mandatory. Employers, however, are required to provide pension plans for their employees, including expatriates who have been working for at least nine (9) months in Cayman Islands.

The islands generate income primarily from indirect taxation. Duty is levied against imported goods, and the tax rates is between 22% to 25%. All tourist accommodations are charged a 10% government tax, in addition to the $25.00 airport departure tax that all airline passengers pay. The government also receives income from the license fees of financial institutions that operate in Cayman Islands. Foreign expatriates also pay work permit fees to the government in order to work there.

5. Kuwait

According to the Kuwaiti constitution, all natural resources in the country and associated revenues are government property. Thus one could expect that Kuwait’s oil industry will be the country’s primary source of revenue. Indeed, revenues from oil account for almost half of Kuwait’s GDP which reached $164 billion in 2011. This translates to a GDP per capita of $58,000. More than 90% of export revenues and 80% of government income are derived from oil.

Kuwait does not charge personal income taxes, but individuals are required to contribute 7.5% of their salaries for social security benefits. Their employer counterpart is a contribution of 11%. Only 7% of Kuwaitis work in the private sector, the majority work in oil companies owned and managed by the government.

6. Monaco

Monaco, a sovereign city-state located on the French Riviera in Western Europe, is one of the wealthiest countries in the world with a GDP per capita of $132,000. Its main revenues are derived primarily from the tourism and gambling industry. It also has a fluorishing banking sector that boasts of over €100 billion worth of funds.

Monaco does not charge any personal income taxes to all residents of any nationality, except French citizens whose residency started after 1957. The French citizens are required to pay French income tax.

Despite the absence of personal income taxes, Monaco charges steep taxes on other fronts. Corporations are imposed a 33% tax rate, unless shown that three-quarters of company revenues is generated within the confines of Monaco. Residents also pay a 19.6% VAT on all goods and services. Employees contribute 10%–14% of their salaries to social insurance, while the employer’s contribution is between 28%–40%.

7. Oman

Oman’s GDP per capita in 2012 is more than $29,000 — around 7 times bigger than the Philippines’ GDP. Like most countries in the Middle East, Oman relies on crude oil, not income taxes, for its revenues.

Revenues from oil alone account for nearly 70% of Oman’s total revenues, reaching more than $13.7 billion in 2011. The country’s natural gas reserves are estimated at 849.5 billion cubic meters, ranking 28th in the world. Its proved petroleum reserves amount to around 5.5 billion barrels, the world’s 24th largest.

Although the country does not impose individual income or capital gains taxes, citizens pay 6.5% of their monthly salaries towards social security benefits.

8. Qatar

Qatar is one of the world’s richest countries, with a GDP per capita of $102,943 in 2011. It does not charge its citizens income taxes, but that’s not all. It also has zero taxes on dividends, royalties, profits, capital gains or property.

Similar to the UAE, Qatar relies on income from oil and gas. It owns the world’s third largest reserves of natural gas and charges companies in the oil and gas industry a 35% corporate tax rate. Citizens of Qatar, however, do pay 5% of their income for social security benefits, while employers contribute 10% for the fund.


9. United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the countries in the world that do not charge personal income tax or even capital gains tax. This is because it is one of the world’s richest sovereign nations, recording a high per-capita income of $49,000.

The country relies on money from oil companies that pay up to 55% in corporate taxes. Being the world’s seventh-largest source of crude oil and natural gas, they are bound to earn a lot already from these oil companies. Around 30% of the country’s gross domestic product is directly based on oil and gas output.

The corporate income tax rate for foreign banks is 20%. The UAE aso charges high sin taxes, 30% tax on alcohol and an additional 50% sales tax on alcohol sold in Dubai.

Sources: KPMG, MSNBC, Wikipedia