Citira ‘enhancements’ sent to Senate – PEZA
Credit to Author: Anna Leah E. Gonzales| Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2019 16:55:50 +0000
THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and its industry partners have submitted their proposed “enhancements” to the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (Citira).
In a statement on Thursday, PEZA Director General Charito Plaza said these enhancements submitted to the Senate last week sought to extend the transition period for the shift from PEZA’s current tax incentives to new ones under Citira to 15 years.
The second package of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program and formerly known as the “Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities” measure, Citira seeks to gradually lower the corporate income tax from 30 percent to 20 percent in 10 years and rationalize fiscal incentives currently being enjoyed by select firms.
Plaza said the enhancements sought to eliminate the risk of massive unemployment and red tape; threat to the country’s ease of doing business; and risk of a backlash from foreign manufacturers and the information technology (IT) services community, among others.
She added that PEZA also aimed to save the P21 billion intended for the structural adjustment fund in Citira and the reputation of the country and its investments promotion agencies as honorable members of the global business community.
“While the agency supports the goals of Citira, PEZA aims to address the possible exits of foreign investors in the country’s ecozones toward other countries, as this will result in massive job losses for thousands of Filipino, thus affecting peace and prosperity in the country,” the PEZA chief said.
“The refinements are the result of the various formal consultations PEZA undertook over the last month with its export and IT enterprises, ecozone developers and industry partners, namely the Philippine Ecozones Association; Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc.; Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines; Confederation of Wearable Exports of the Philippines; and the various foreign chambers, [including] the Joint Foreign Chamber,” she added.
Plaza said, however, that amid PEZA’s agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry on the refinements, other affected parties, like the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines Inc. (ULAP) still continue to push for the status quo on the current incentives.
She said ULAP, in a letter addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte on October 22, expressed their concern over Citira.
“With the recommendations and inputs of the affected parties under PEZA, we have now come up with our proposed refinements to better craft a beautiful legislation that’s beneficial for all,” she added.