QuestionsQuestions (HDMF CIRCULAR NO. 263)
It aims to encourage delinquent employers to register with the Pag-IBIG Fund and/or collect and remit the required membership contributions and employer counterpart by granting condonation of certain penalty charges under specific conditions.
They include: (1) unregistered employers who register on or before the last working day prior to December 31, 2009; (2) employers whose applications for waiver from Fund coverage were denied but who failed or refused to register; and (3) employers already registered but who did not collect contributions from employees and did not remit the employer counterpart.
Employers who actually collected employee contributions and/or STL amortization payments but failed to remit them are excluded from condonation coverage for those unremitted amounts.
The employer must pay all unremitted membership contributions (including the employer counterpart) plus corresponding penalty charges from the time employees should have been covered. STL amortization payments deducted from employees but not remitted must also be paid, and penalties incurred by employees due to non-remittance are charged to the employer and later credited to the member’s TAV.
The employer may make payments through a plan of payment acceptable to the Fund.
Yes. If the employer has coverable employees from whom it did not collect membership contributions, it may apply for penalty condonation for those particular employees still under its employ.
If the employer fails or refuses to comply within thirty (30) days from demand, it shall be criminally prosecuted in accordance with PD 1752, as amended.
The employer must submit a letter signifying its request for penalty condonation.
Grounds include: (1) financial difficulty affecting business operations; (2) failure of the concerned official to register and/or remit due to failure not brought to higher management’s knowledge; (3) coverage under PD 1752 unsuccessfully contested in court; and (4) other acceptable reasons to the Board of Trustees.
The application must be filed on or before the last working day before December 31, 2009.
It must remit all unremitted employer contributions from the time its current employees should have been covered up to approval of the application, and also collect and remit employee and employer contributions due for the current remittance period.
All penalty charges incurred by the employer from the first month of delinquency up to approval of the application are condoned, provided the employer remits its total obligations within thirty (30) days from approval.
The employer may submit a plan of payment within seven (7) calendar days from approval. Settlement period cannot exceed twenty-four (24) months. Penalties condoned are proportional to downpayments; the remaining balance (arrearages plus uncondoned penalties) earns 1% per month interest. The employer must issue PDCs and payments start exactly one month from approval.
The employer is given another seven (7) calendar days to submit a plan of payment acceptable to the Fund.
If the plan is violated through default or short-remittance, previously condoned penalties are restored and civil and/or criminal actions may be filed. Also, failure to collect and/or remit employee and employer contributions for the current period results in a 3% penalty for every month of delay.
For employees registered by the delinquent employer, membership effectivity is based on the date of the employee’s initial PFR. For employees with previous deductions but not remitted, membership starts on the date the actual remittance should have been made.