Secretary Frederick Go, the presidential adviser on investment and economic affairs, wanted the power of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) restored to resolve issues stemming from the implementation of laws such as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.
“I have put this on top of our to do list. We are working with Congress and the Senate to bring back certainty to our laws providing confidence to investors [and] have predictability and firm implementation of policies that protect their investments,” Go said in his first economic briefing organized by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Wednesday.
Go said one important measure he is looking at is the restoration of the powers of IPAs to facilitate big-ticket investments, a function that was stripped off from them and relegated to the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB).
This may involve the processing of investments beyond the P1-billion mark, which was assigned to the FIRB as the strategic office for investments.
“We want to give back their power over locators in their respective economic zones. This will enable IPAS to protect companies from regulatory inconsistencies and ambiguities, as well as excessive bureaucracy and red tape,” Go said. Othel V. Campos
He said the rules should be clearly worded to avoid “conflicting misinterpretations”, limit required documents and allow claimants the opportunity to request for reconsideration before a decision is made.
He also mentioned the transitory revisions in CREATE Law, adding that the VAT 0 rating, VAT exemption and duty exemptions are not subject to the sunset period.
Go also underscored the need for reforms to address long-standing issues in Customs administration to curb smuggling, reduce mis-declarations and prevent substandard goods through the proposed implementation of pre-border inspection and digitalized invoicing.
He also mentioned the planned reduction in sales tax to 0.1 percent from 0.6 percent and the increased participation in capital market and IPO listings.
“We also continue to make significant progress on other reforms related to the capital markets. We are working on reducing friction costs like reducing sales tax, harmonizing withholding tax and reducing broker’s commissions,” Go said.