Preface The Philippine taxation system has been and is still in a state of dynamic transformation since January 2018, with the government heading towards accelerating poverty reduction, minimizing inequality, and generating revenues to invest in the Filipino people and infrastructure. Our firm, Isla Lipana & Co., the Philippine member firm of the PwC network, has actively supported the crafting of Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (otherwise known as the TRAIN Law), including its implementing rules and regulations, by putting forward the impact, challenges, and issues raised by the affected taxpayers and industries. While among the objectives of the TRAIN Law was to simplify taxation and make it fairer and more efficient, the track that it had to pursue during the legislative deliberation was not without challenges or obstacles for both the taxpayers and the government. One example was the veto by the President of certain items, which include the preferential tax rates for qualified employees of existing regional headquarters, regional operating headquarters, offshore banking units, and petroleum service contractors and sub-contractors. The President’s veto on the VAT zero-rating treatment on sale and delivery of goods to registered enterprises within a separate customs territory under special laws, and within Tourism Enterprises Zones was another. Upon its effectivity, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and even more so, the taxpayers had to hurdle the transition to new income tax returns for individuals, and challenges in complying with the revised withholding tax regulations and newly introduced excise taxes, among others. Isla Lipana & Co., the Philippine member firm of the PwC network