CREATE MORE to spur jobs and investments, says Senate president

PHILIPPINE Senate President Francis G. Escudero on Sunday said he expects an influx of jobs and investors through the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) measure, which the President is set to sign into law on Monday.

“The bottomline is that it will create a more favorable investment climate that will create more jobs and spur progress without harming our revenue base,” he said in a statement.

CREATE MORE will lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies to 20% from 25%. It also gives registered business enterprises with a capital stock of over P15 billion value-added tax (VAT) zero-rating on local purchases, VAT exemption on imports and duty exemptions on imports of capital equipment, raw materials, spare parts and accessories.

“Hopefully, we’ll also be able to provide needed jobs here in the Philippines and give Filipino workers an option to work here instead of simply exploring options to work abroad,” Mr. Escudero said.

The country’s jobless rate eased to 3.7% in September from 4% in August and 4.5% in September last year, according to the local statistics agency.

The number of underemployed Filipinos — those who want longer work hours or more jobs — increased by 831,000 to 5.94 million from 5.11 million a year ago.

Under the measure, registered enterprises will also be entitled to a 100% deduction on power expenses incurred in a taxable year, from 50%.

It also imposes a cap of 2% on local taxes based on gross income. These companies may also have a work-from-home setup for as much as half of their workforce without losing their incentives.

“This is in line with our commitment for the Senate to make life easier for our people and for those who choose to do business with our people,” Mr. Escudero said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez