Biz leaders back corporate tax reform

The country’s business leaders have expressed their full support for the Duterte administration’s proposed reforms in corporate taxation and the grant of investment incentives, which they described as “a bold move” to sharpen the Philippines’ competitiveness in the region.

In a letter to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said lowering corporate income taxes will put these on par with the rates imposed by the country’s ASEAN peers, while modernizing investment incentives will streamline overlapping laws and make such perks time-bound and based on performance.

The Department of Finance (DOF) has proposed these reforms under Package 2 of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) to level the playing field for business and make the system equitable, transparent and more accountable by, among others, removing perpetual tax holidays enjoyed by only a select group of investors, which is unfair especially to smaller enterprises that pay regular tax rates.

“[Package 2] is another milestone initiative for the government and a bold move that we believe will create a positive impact over-all. The MAP commits its continuing support for the passage of [Package 2],” the organization said in its letter to Dominguez dated March 7.

The MAP consists of some 1,000 members representing a cross section of CEOs and other top management positions from the largest local and multinational companies operating in the Philippines.

“We agree with the Department of Finance that [Package 2] will help the country become more competitive with the rest of the world by lowering the corporate income taxes from the current 30 percent, the highest among our ASEAN peers,” MAP said in its letter.

It also agreed with the DOF on “the need to rationalize and modernize the tax incentive system to make incentives time-bound, performance-based and not excessively complex with far too many different, even overlapping laws, rules and regulations.”

“It is necessary to widen the tax base and enforce better compliance. The relaxation of our bank secrecy laws, coupled with proper safeguards against abuse, is an essential tool in doing that. It will also encourage more to avail (themselves) of a general tax amnesty, which we support,” MAP said.

Underscoring the urgency of implementing corporate tax reforms, the MAP suggested that these be carried out starting in 2019, as “our ASEAN neighbors are contemplating even further reductions in their income tax rates - making this an important step.”

“We believe it is important to commit to a definite timeline for the reduction of income tax rates to have predictability that can help decisionmaking on investments and business plans,” MAP said. DOF