Lawmaker supports WFH for BPOs, amid amended CREATE rules
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda supports business process outsourcing (BPO) enterprises in keeping the work-from-home arrangements and implementing rules of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
Salcedo questioned the rule under Section 309 of the tax code as amended by CREATE, which said that activities must be “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.”
The Albay representative noted that this condition is only “relevant for industries that require physical transport and storage and are therefore prone to smuggling and leakage to the domestic market,” adding that “smuggling is not a BPO-sector problem.”
He also clarified that the rendering of BPO services “does not happen exclusively within the boundaries of the zone, even if the workers are onsite.”
