imw Thursday, August ,U,rDrn ,,

HOUSE PANEL 5END5 CITIRA BILL TO PLENARY

Bvfovur Mnnrn N. nple Cnuz Section z18 in apprwingthe billin one to the plenary
pler for second and third
J Eioveemarie day oniy. Under Section 48 ofthe House reading approval.
ap

rl-HE House Com mitteeon Ways

I and MeansonWednesdayap-
I proved the Corporate lncome
Tax and lncentive Rationalization
Act (Citira) bill to boost government
efforts to improve the country's in-
vestment climate.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chair-
man of the committee, expressed
confidence that the bill will help the
Phil i ppines secu re an'A"cred it rating
from S&P Global Ratings by 2022.
Voting 27-2, mernberis of the
committee endorsed for plenary ap-
proval House Bill (HB) 313 authored
by Salceda.
The pa.nel invoked House Rule 10,
Ru les,"l n case of bil ls or resolutions that
. "We
"Werati
rationalize incentives sothey
are identified as priority measures of could be ttargeted laf sectors] that
the House, which were previously fi led generate more investments
could gen
inthe i m mediately preceding Congress and jobil
jobsi he said.
and have been approved on 3rd read- "This measure is at best revenue-
ing, the same may be disposed of as neutql. The key to this reform is to
matters already reported upon the get it done quickly and remove any
approvalo-f the malorifiaf tnemem- uncertaintyfrom the business atmo-
bers of the committee present, there spherei Salceda added.
being a quorum.The committee sec- The lawmaker said the bill or the
retary shall immediately prepare the second package of the Comprehen-
necessary committee reports on said siveTax Reform Program (CTRP)also
measuresfor inclusion in the Calendar aimsto ensurgthatthe grant of fiscal
of Business': incentives will bring more benefits,
The oanel was able to expe-dite such as higher and more dispersed
the passage of the measure after investments, more jobs and better
only two hearings. Salceda said HB technology.
313 will be transmitted next week Sre "CITIRA BILL," A8

'Citira billc o r coNrrNirED rRouAr

Ihe measure seek's to en(ourage in September last Year. :

q\"'
investments by bringing down the c0rporate
income tax (ClT) rate from 30 percent to Appeal
20 percent, and modernize investment tax lN in intqrview;'Philippine Economic Zone

incentives to enhance fairness, improve Authority (Peza) Director General Charito B'
competitivenesg, plug tax leakages and attain Plaza expressed opposition to the bill.

fiscal sustainability. Plaza said the DOF shbuld not only be

The measure proposes to bring down the concerned with how to increase taxes and
CIT by two percentage points every two years' income of the national government but
"This is a national imperative. We need to also consider the income created, for local
lower taxes to remain competitivei Salceda said.
government units.
According to Plaza, a total of P10.05
The bill will strive to encourage investors
and lgcators to reapply after the five-year br trillion was poured by Peza and its registered
seven-year period, to qualify for incentives for companies into the Philippine economy from

another five years. 2015 to 2017.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said She said this huge amount includes the
the prpposal is projected to generate some investments of Peza companies; exports of Peza
1.4 million jobs, mostly in small and medium enterprises;salaries and wages given to direct
enterprises (5MEs), over the next decade and employees of Peza registered enterprises; taxes
create,a $usiness environment conducive to paid tothe national and local governments by
inclusive growth. Peza enterprises; local purehases of capital
For his part, Finante Undersecretary Karl for
equipment and raw materials used directly
Chua said the set of incentives under Package
the manufacture of the registered activities of
2 will be "transparent, time-bound, targeted
Peza enterprises; and Peza taxes and dividends
and performance-based."
to the national government.
The Patkage 2 version of tfe 17th
willappealtothe Senate
Plaza also said she
Congress or the Tax Reform for Attracting
because they are m0re"statesmanIike"than the
Better and Higher-Quality 0pportunities
members of the House.
(Trabaho) bill was approved by the chamber

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