Escudero: PBBM to sign CREATE MORE Nov. 11

Manila: Senate President Francis Escudero said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to sign next month the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE). "It's scheduled to be signed I believe in November. So it will be signed on November 11, barring any typhoons or calamities," Escudero said at the 13th Arangkada Philippines Forum held at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City. "CREATE MORE seeks to encourage more investors to actually come into the Philippines by providing a more predictable and sustainable playing field and hopefully be able to provide needed jobs here in the Philippines and give the Filipino workers an option to work here instead of simply exploring options to work abroad." Escudero said he is "90 percent sure" that the bicameral version will be approved. Last month, the congressional bicameral conference committee approved the CREATE MORE bill, which seeks to lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies to 20 percent from 25 percent. The CREATE MORE bill is one of the measures approved as 'top priority' by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council. CREATE MORE seeks to eliminate value-added tax (VAT) on essential services. It shall also allow large domestic enterprises to receive VAT zero rating, exemption and duty exemptions. The Senate adopted the lower chamber's proposals to apply the 20-percent rate on corporate income tax to both CREATE-era and CREATE MORE-availing enterprises, permit local government units to set the registered business enterprise (RBE) local tax lower than 2 percent, and grant tax refunds to petroleum suppliers for all tax-exempt entities. "[I am] 90% sure that it will be as is because it was coordinated specifically with the Office of the President,' Escudero said. 'We're coordinating closely with the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Office of the President with respect to the versions that we're approving, para wala na 'yung balikan di ba (so there will be n o back and forth)." Source: Philippines News agency