Senators Juan Edgardo Angara (left) and Aquilino Pimentel III (extreme right) exchange views before the Senate passage on third and final reading of the bill postponing the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections from Feb. 21, 2015 to the last Monday of October 2016. Also in photo are Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Senate committee on ways and means approved a bill that would institutionalize a monitoring system for tax incentives that business entities, corporations and private individuals are receiving from the government.
In a hearing on Tuesday, the committee chaired by Sen. Edgardo Angara approved Senate Bill (SB) 2669 or the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA) which seeks to promote transparency and accountability in giving and administering tax incentives.
Though tax incentives are an important component of the fiscal policy to attract investments, their proper administration is necessary to ensure that the incentives would not have an adverse impact on government revenue, Angara pointed out in an e-mailed statement Wednesday.
The incentives on investments in 2011 reached P144 billion, Angara noted, citing a report by the Department of Finance (DOF). The amount is equivalent to 9 percent of the actual government spending and 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product for that year, according to the report.
“The Philippines remains strongly competitive in the region… The steady stream of FDIs or foreign direct investments into our economy is not a mere coincidence. It is through the provision of tax incentives, among our other fiscal strategies, that we are able to promote investments that make us among the top emerging economies in the region,” Angara said. (MNS)