Big-ticket investments under CREATE hit P1.14 trillion

MANILA, Philippines — The government has approved 1,158 projects worth P1.14 trillion three years since the enactment of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law, data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed.

The approved applications cover August 2021 up to end-April 2024. It also covers 1,158 CREATE-approved projects across priority sectors listed in the Strategic Investment Priority Plan, higher than the 910 last reported in October.

Broken down, the bulk or 76.8 percent of the investment capital worth P873.9 billion was approved by the Cabinet-level Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB). This consists of 56 big-ticket tax incentive projects.

The remaining 23.1 percent or P263.7 billion came from investment promotion agencies (IPAs) covering 1,102 projects.

Earlier in February, the government increased the investment capital threshold assigned to IPAs to P15 billion in a bid to promote the ease of doing business.

Under the previous setup, IPAs approve the incentives of projects below P1 billion, while the FIRB selects the tax perks for business activities above P1 billion.

“The board recognizes the need to increase the investment capital threshold to promote the ease of doing business in response to the concerns raised by some IPAs,” the FIRB earlier said.

“This is also to align with policy proposals in Congress, which seek to give more authority to the IPAs in granting incentives,” it added.

Republic Act 11534 or the CREATE Law slashed the corporate income tax rates, making them comparable with the ASEAN region.

The law also adopted a simpler and more effective fiscal incentives system, ensuring that incentives are performance-based, time-bound, targeted and transparent.

Incentivized projects and activities under the structural tax reform are to achieve performance metrics, to ensure that the grant of fiscal support to registered business enterprises leads to higher economic returns.

According to the DOF, the over 1,000 projects are expected to generate 142,294 jobs for Filipinos within its incentivized period.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is urging Congress to immediately pass Senate Bill 2654 or the CREATE to Maximize Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (MORE).

In a statement, the country’s largest business organization said the proposed bill amending certain provisions of the CREATE law would make the country an attractive destination for investments and support the growth of businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises.