Tourism investments to enjoy more fiscal incentives

New investments in tourism-related projects will likely enjoy more incentives from the proposed Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

Samie Lim, who heads the tourism advocacy of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told reporters yesterday that the National Tourism Policy Act of 2009 provides more incentives than those offered by the Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

“Before, tourism projects are half under Peza and half under BoI. This time, tourism projects will be handled by Tieza, which is empowered to give more incentives such as six-year income tax holiday, which is extendable, 5-percent gross income tax in lieu of all local taxes, employment of foreign workers and zero duties on importation of capital equipment,” said Lim.

The law empowers the Tourism Department to strengthen its different agencies and coordinate the functions and resources of government for tourism promotions and development programs, as well as eliminate overlapping of functions.

The tourism statute provides for the reorganization of the Philippine Tourism Authority to become the Tieza, a corporate body mandated to designate, regulate and supervise tourism enterprise zones.

Lim said the law expanded the powers of the tourism authority to an entity that can also grant incentives.

The law was signed early this year but the implementing rules and regulations are still being drawn up.

“Under the Tourism Act, we [private sector] hope to be able to play a more active role in the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations. From the business sector perspective, we want to have structured guidelines that are pro-business, more developmental and streamlines bureaucracy,” said Lim.

He said new law would hopefully bring on more focused efforts in marketing the Philippines as a tourism destination. –Elaine R. Alanguilan, Manila Standard Today