’Trabaho’ bill reaches House plenary

House ways and means committee chairman Dakila Cua said the Trabaho bill does not impose new taxes, but instead aims to create more jobs by attracting the right set of investments through incentives. (File photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The administration’s second tax reform package which aims to lower corporate income taxes (CIT) and modernize incentives was sponsored before the plenary of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

House ways and means committee chairman Dakila Cua endorsed for plenary consideration House Bill No 8083 or the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher Quality Opportunities (TRABAHO) bill.

During his speech, Cua said the Trabaho bill does not impose new taxes, but instead aims to create more jobs by attracting the right set of investments through incentives.

“Ang layunin po nito ay ang paglikha ng mas maraming trabaho at oportunidad sa ating bansa sa pamamagitan ng paghikayat sa pribadong sektor na tumaya at mamuhunan sa Pilipinas at palaguin ang kanilang negosyo rito (The goal of this bill is to create more jobs and opportunities in our country by encouraging the private sector to bet, invest, and grow their businesses here in the Philippines),” Cua said.

From the current base rate of 30 percent, the bill seeks to gradually lower corporate income tax to 20 percent by 2029. It proposes to bring down the CIT by two percentages per year starting in 2021.

It aims to lower the CIT paid by some 95 percent of businesses.

Cua said the proposed incentives regime will be biased to development outside urban areas.

The bill gives new investments outside urban areas an additional two years of incentives.

“Ang gusto po natin ay trabaho sa bawat sulok ng Pilipinas. Kailangang-kailangan po natin ng investments sa labas ng lungsod, lalong-lalo na sa agrikultura, upang sabay-sabay tayong makinabang sa paglago ng bansa (What we want is to create jobs in every corner of the Philippines. We really need investments outside of urban areas, especially in agriculture, so that all of us could benefit from the country’s development),” Cua said.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, another sponsor of the measure, said the second tax reform package aims to “enhance fairness, improve competitiveness, plug tax leakages and achieve fiscal sustainability” by reforming the corporate income tax system.

“This proposed measure is crucial and vital to the agenda of the Duterte administration, which includes infrastructure development, education for all, access to health care and social protection,” Suansing said.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has cited the bill as a priority of the lower chamber.

President Rodrigo Duterte, in his third State of the Nation Address, said the enactment of the Package 2 is what stands between today and millions of jobs in the near future.

“I hope to sign Package 2 before the year ends. I urge Congress to pass it in a form that satisfies our goals and serves the interests of the many, not just the wealthy few,” he said.

The President also asked Congress to pass all the remaining packages of the CTRP within this year.