Philippine Daily Inquirer Digital Edition

P 368-B TAX PERKS GIVEN TO BIG-TICKET INVESTMENTS

By Ben O. de Vera @bendeveraINQ

Over a year after the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act became law in March 2021, the Cabinet-level Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) so far approved tax perks for 11 projects worth a total of P368 billion.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the P151-billion high-speed broadband services connectivity facilities project of Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was the biggest of these 11 big-ticket projects cleared by the interagency FIRB for fiscal and other incentives to date. Converge is owned by Pampanga’s Dennis Anthony Uy.

Infra, transport projects

The FIRB also granted taxfree perks for the P81-billion Makati subway project, which will start operations in 2026.

Besides these two infrastructure projects, the other sectors that were granted fiscal incentives included cement production, mass housing construction and shipbuilding.

The FIRB recently greenlighted the registration of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc. for its forthcoming P1.5-billion shipping vessel that will sail the Cebu City-Cagayan de Oro City route. Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy owns Cebu-based Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc., which will launch its roll-on, roll-off passenger and cargo operations.

This month, the FIRB approved the P17-billion Project Agila project to take over the massive Subic facility left behind by South Korean shipbuilding giant Hanjin in 2019. US-based private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management will redevelop and operate the former shipyard at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Countryside benefits

“Most of these incentivized investments are located outside the National Capital Region, thereby energizing rural development and generating more jobs in the countryside,” DOF Assistant Secretary and FIRB secretariat head Juvy Danofrata said.

Under the CREATE Law, the FIRB oversees the awarding of incentives to investments worth over P1 billion.

The CREATE Law signed last year empowered the President, upon the FIRB’s recommendation, to provide hefty tax breaks to entice big investments.

CREATE also rationalized the previously wide array of fiscal perks being offered by investment promotion agencies, which have cost the government billions of pesos in foregone revenues.

BUSINESS

en-ph

2022-05-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/article/281827172381491

Philippine Daily Inquirer