MANILA, Philippines — Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda criticized on Friday investors threatening to leave the country amid the looming passage of the second tranche of the Duterte administration’s tax reform program which would reduce incentives being enjoyed by investors while also gradually cutting down the corporate income tax (CIT) rate.
“Hindi ko sinasabi na sa tagal ng relasyon nyo kesyo wala nang performance iiwanan mo na. Pero ang sinasabi ko kung meron po kayong duty to your shareholders meron din kayong duty to the nation, to the community to produce more jobs,” Salceda, who chairs the House ways and means committee, said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer referring to investors.
“At wag nyong basta-basta kaming tatakutin dahil marunong din naman po kaming mag-compute sa gobyerno. Hindi na ho (gaya) dati basta-basta na lang kami tatakutin na lalayas kayo… Madali naman po ‘yang i-resolve sa matinong usapan hindi po ‘yung mananakot… ” he added.
The economist indicated some investors are threatening to leave the country as his House Bill No. 313 or the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (Citira) moves in the lower chamber.
Salceda also said the swift passage of Citira would quell uncertainties in the investment sector.
The bill, previously called the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill in the 17th Congress, seeks cut the 30 percent CIT by two percent per two years until it reaches 20 percent. The Philippines has the highest CIT rate among Asean countries. It also seeks to impose performance-based and time-bound incentives.
The Citira, one of the Duterte administration’s priority tax measures, was recently approved by the House ways and means panel and would be tackled at the plenary in the coming weeks. /muf
READ: House panel OKs bill lowering corporate tax, fixing incentives for businesses
RELATED STORY:
3,150 firms got P1.12-T tax perks from 2015-2017