CREATE amendment to allow long-term hybrid work
A revision to Section 309 of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law could support the long-term implementation hybrid work model.
According to the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) President Jack Madrid, the “continued study and eventual amendment” of the specific section could be addressed through the revision of the applicable portions of the law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
Section 309 of CREATE law states that “a qualified registered project or activity under an Investment Promotion Agency administering an economic zone or free port shall be exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or free port being administered by the Investment Promotion Agency in which the project or activity is registered.”
Under such provision, any project or activity conducted or performed outside the geographical boundaries of the zone or free port shall not be entitled to the incentives provided in this Act.
Due to this, several IT-BPM (IT-Business Process Management) RBEs who want to continue their WFH or hybrid model chose to forego their tax incentives.
However, Madrid emphasized that allowing a hybrid working model could boost the global competitiveness of the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines.
