Congress urged to pass tax bill measures for foreign investments

The Philippines’ Secretary of Finance on Friday said that he is hopeful that the Congress will approve a couple of measures aimed at further opening the economy to foreign participation.
“The approval on third reading of the Department of Finance (DOF)-supported amendment proposals to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act by both houses of Congress in 2021 bode well for the approval of the remaining tax reform packages,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a statement.
President Duterte already signed the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Law as Republic Act No. 11595, allowing a lower minimum paid-up capital of P25 million for foreign retailers, from P125 million previously.
The finance chief said the DOF is optimistic that the legislature can still approve real property valuation reform and the passive income and financial intermediary taxation act (Pifita), both of which were already passed by the Lower House but remained pending at the committee level in the Senate.