Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III is seeking the swift final approval by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act to help bring the Philippines closer to its goal of attaining the coveted “A” investment grade credit rating in two years’ time.
Dominguez in a statement over the weekend lauded the House ways and means committee chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda for its prompt action on the proposed corporate income tax and incentives reform package, which President Duterte himself has said would benefit small and medium-scale enterprises.
Passing the CITIRA bill would make the Philippines more attractive to investors by gradually lowering the corporate income tax rate from 30 to 20 percent, and rationalizing the system of granting fiscal incentives to companies, Dominguez said.
The CITIRA, as proposed by the Department of Finance, is also expected to create up to 1.5 million better-paying and of high-value jobs.