Tax issue hounds NAIA rehab talks

Another concession agreement between the government and the private sector is facing headwinds, this time over the P102-billion rehabilitation of the NAIA.

Jose Ma. Lim, president and chief executive officer of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), one of the seven conglomerates that form the NAIA consortium, said an issue that is currently being discussed by the parties which needs resolution is the matter of the real property tax (RPT).

“When a project is in the hands of the government, it isn’t subject to any tax. But when private sector takes over, it becomes taxable. So just like in the LRT, that was an issue. It’s the same issue here because it’s huge and even our tollroads and our other utilities always have that issue. How can you tax assets that belong to the government? ” Lim said.

Lim said the RPT amount being asked by the government would have a significant impact on the consortium’s expected returns for the massive rehabilitation project.

“It’s huge, like about half of the expected returns will be eaten up by RPT,” he said.

“We are not saying that the private sector should not shoulder it. We are just saying it has to be a reasonable amount. Because an airport is huge,” Lim said.

The MPIC executive said there is a need to find some

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