Q1 2020 passage for Citira seen

Branded chicken sells briskly at this stall in Manila, the commodity being a key ingredient in macaroni salad, a holiday fare loved by festive Filipinos. YUMMIE DINGDING @tribunephl_yumi

The Comprehensive Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira) is seen signed into law within the first quarter of 2020.

A long delay in the passage of the administration’s priority measure could push back the timeline for the reduction of the CIT rate and increase uncertainties in the business sector.

“It’s possible that the timetable will not be adjusted if it’s approved early in 2020… but if it’s approved later in the year, which I hope not, then it makes sense that (the reduction) will be moved by a year. It depends on the effectivity,” Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez told reporters in an earlier interview.

The Citira aims to rationalize tax incentives, and gradually lower the Philippines’ CIT rate to 20 percent from the current high of 30 percent in a span of ten years, or until 2029, assuming that the measure would be passed this year.

The slow reduction is also seen to ease the transition of export-oriented firms to the new tax regime, as the Citira will also scrap some tax perks such as the five percent tax on gross income-earned incentive that companies registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are given, instead of paying all national and local taxes.

The Citira pends at the Senate after quickly hurdling the House in September. Lopez said the Senate is expected to immediately tackle the bill on its return on 20 January 2020.

Lopez earlier said a new version of the Citira bill was set to be filed at the Senate by Senate ways and means committee chairperson Pia Cayetano.

“They just lacked time this December, but it’s fine since they passed the (national) budget first. If not, then that will have a bigger impact. Citira, obviously, should come in second,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lopez said the uncertainty in Citira lies on its non-passage and not on the provisions itself.

He said that so far, it has not affected investment pledges to the DTI-attached Board of Investments, which earlier on hit its full-year target of P1-trillion worth of investment commitments.