The taxman has temporarily shuttered 18 Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) and their service providers located in a Cagayan ecozone for lack of registration with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

In a statement, the BIR identified the nine licensees closed down by its Pogo task force last Feb. 11 as Asian BGE Ltd., Fine Day Holdings Ltd., Hana Talk Inc., NCGAC Ltd., NEO Kingdom Ltd., Oak Tree Services Ltd., Succeed Asia Ltd., Wealthy Leap and WUS Technologies Holdings Ltd.

The licensees' failure to register under Section 236 of the Tax Code as well as Republic Act No. 11590 signed by President Duterte in September 2021, or the so-called Pogo Law, also resulted in the closure of their respective support service providers, namely: Alpha Fortune Management Solutions Inc., Empire Group International and Management Tech Services Inc., Hi-Source Services Inc., Kui Business Services Inc., Lyndhurst Services Inc., Pacific Solutions Management, Rimrock ICT Services Inc., Succeed Asia Ventures Inc., as well as Top Asia Leisure and Entertainment Corp. INQ