Call center agents of a business process outsourcing firm. (AFP FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The government should make tax rules “simpler” for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms with work-from-home arrangements to keep the boom in the BPO sector.
House ways and means panel chair Rep. Joey Salceda on Friday stressed the importance of “simpler and clearer tax rules” amid BPOs’ impending shift to the Board of Investments (BOI).
Salceda asked the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue for a “simplified and rationalized system of requiring and validating documentary proof” for allowable deductions under Republic Act No. 11534, or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.
This law allows BPOs to avail enhanced deductions on power costs, labor costs, training expenses and research and development instead of the five percent special corporate income tax rate if they register with the BOI.
He added that “easy and clear tax compliance for BPOs will help preserve the country’s BPO boom” amid projections that the industry will grow annually by 8 percent in the next six years. —Julie M. Aurelio