CITIRA will cause 700,000 job losses, say foreign investors
The proposed Corporate Income Tax Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA) bill could lead to more than 700,000 job losses in just one year, foreign businesses warned. According to John D. Forbes of the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) of the Philippines, the country’s fiscal incentives were making up for the high cost of doing business in the Philippines and removing these incentives would push investors to consider other countries. Due to the high cost of doing business, the Philippines lags behind other Southeast Asian countries, which are attracting foreign direct investments higher than China’s.
Forbes, who also represents the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in the Philippines, said the JFC estimated that at least 120,000 direct jobs would disappear and a further 582,000 indirect jobs would be lost. Citing the JFC figures, he added that retaining the existing tax incentives would sustain a 5 to 10% annual increase in jobs, which would mean one to two million direct and four to eight million indirect jobs created in the next 10 years.
