MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Congress to fast-track the passage of a measure seeking to lower corporate income taxes, stressing the need to boost the country’s economy.
“We must facilitate the country’s economic recovery. I call on Congress to fast-track the passage of proposed measures such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act,” Duterte said during his fifth State of the Nation Address.
“This immediately cuts the corporate income levy from the current 30 to 25 percent and gives the government flexibility to grant a combination of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, among others,” he further said.
The proposed measure called CREATE was previously known as the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA).
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III described the measure as among the “largest economic stimulus measure” in the Philippines’ history.