Elijah Felice Rosales – The Philippine Star
May 24, 2022 | 12:00am
The government has issued tax perks to P368 billion worth of projects, mostly outside of Metro Manila, in an effort to regulate the issuance of fiscal incentives.
The Cabinet-level Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) said yesterday the amount covered 11 big-ticket projects nationwide with a total cost of P1 billion and above.
Finance Assistant Secretary and FIRB secretariat head Juvy Danofrata said most of the projects provided with incentives are located outside of Metro Manila to generate jobs in rural areas.
Danofrata said the largest undertaking approved by far is the multi-phased project worth P151 billion of listed Converge ICT Solutions Inc. The project will receive four years of tax break, after which it will enjoy five years of enhanced deduction.
Last year, the FIRB also authorized the grant of incentives for the construction and operations of the P81 billion Makati Intra-city Subway. The project, set to open to the public in 2026, obtained the same set of tax perks given to Converge.
“Most of these incentivized investments are located outside the National Capital Region, thereby energizing rural development and generating more jobs in the countryside,” Danofrata said.
Also, the FIRB approved the issuance of tax breaks and cuts to a cement manufacturing activity, mass housing construction, among others, most of which are located in the provinces.
According to Danofrata, the FIRB will improve the Fiscal Incentives Registration and Monitoring System (FIRMS) to streamline the application, approval and regulation of tax privileges.
FIRMS serves as the online registration platform on the FIRB website. Investors can access the portal to monitor their application for incentives after they submitted their requirements with any of the investment promotion agencies.
Under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, IPAs approve the incentives of projects below P1 billion. On the other hand, the FIRB selects the tax perks for business activities worth above P1 billion.