BOI transfer could result in ‘double dipping’ on tax perks, says PEZA
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is worried that the transfer of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms to the Board of Investments (BOI) could result to double dipping on multiple tax incentives.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 22-19 issued by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), BPOs were allowed to transfer their registration from PEZA to BOI to skip the requirement of having most of their employees return to offices. This initiative is also supported by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB).
While DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual assured the ecozone authority that this would only be a “mere paper transfer” to solve the remote work issue in the BPO industry, PEZA OIC Tereso Panga said that they do not see any value in this order.
Panga also questioned why the government is “prepared to bend the rules on no double dipping in incentives in support of BOI,” but not with PEZA.
However, the PEZA OIC admitted that they are still bound to implement to order given by DTI and FIRB.
But, at the same time, Panga added that they will continue to present the WFH 30% limit until March 2023 to IT locators who want to keep their PEZA status.
MC 22-19, signed by Pascual, provides that all IT-BPM firms interested in transferring from PEZA to the BOI may process their application until December 2022.
