Increasing the Investment Capital Threshold for Projects Delegated to the IPAs under the CREATE Act

February 2, 2024 FIRB RESOLUTION NO. 003-24 WHEREAS , Section 297 (B) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as amended, provides that the grant of tax incentives to registered projects or activities with investment capital of One billion pesos (P1,000,000,000.00) and below shall be delegated by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) to the concerned Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) to the extent of the registered project or activity: Provided , That the FIRB may increase the threshold amount of One billion pesos (P1,000,000,000.00); aScITE WHEREAS , The Board recognizes the need to increase the investment capital threshold to promote the ease of doing business in response to the concerns raised by some IPAs, and to align with the policy proposals in Congress which seeks to give more authority to the IPAs in granting incentives; WHEREAS , The increase in threshold may already be enforced by the Board without the need for an amendment in the NIRC; WHEREAS , The revised threshold is aligned with Section 7 (a) (1) (i) of Republic Act No. 11966, otherwise known as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code of the Philippines, which states that National PPP Projects with project cost of Fifteen billion pesos (P15,000,000,000.00) and above shall be approved by the inter-agency National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, upon favorable recommendation of the NEDA Board-Investment Coordination Committee (ICC); WHEREAS , The proposed increase in the threshold will give greater responsibility and accountability to the IPAs as more projects will be under their jurisdiction; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED , That the investment capital threshold for projects delegated to the IPAs, pursuant to Section 297 (B) of the NIRC, as amended, shall be increased from One billion pesos (P1,000,000,000.00) and below to Fifteen billion pesos (P15,000,000,000.00) and below. Provided , that all applications for tax incentives with investment capital of more than Fifteen billion pesos (P15,000,000,000.00) shall remain with the FIRB; RESOLVED, FURTHER , That all applications for tax incentives already endorsed by the IPAs to the FIRB, through the FIRB secretariat, at the time of the approval of this Resolution, with investment capital of Fifteen billion pesos (P15,000,000,000.00) and below, shall be returned to the concerned IPA for their appropriate action, subject to the existing procedures of the IPAs. RESOLVED, FURTHER , That the FIRB, together with the IPAs, retains the power to monitor the compliance of all registered business entities (RBEs) of their performance commitments as conditions for the grant of tax incentives, regardless of the amount of investment capital. DETACa RESOLVED, FURTHER , That the IPAs shall include approved projects with investment capital of Fifteen billion pesos (P15,000,000,000.00) and below in their monthly report to the FIRB secretariat using the prescribed monitoring template. 1 RESOLVED, FINALLY , That nothing in this Resolution shall affect the existing power and authority of the FIRB, as provided under Section 297 (E) of the NIRC, as amended, to cancel, suspend or withdraw the enjoyment of tax incentives of all RBEs, regardless of the amount of investment capital. This Resolution may be signed in any number of counterparts, each of which, when duly executed and sent by facsimile or electronic transmission to the Secretariat, shall be valid and effectual as if executed as an original, but all the counterparts (including counterparts sent by way of facsimile or electronic transmission) shall together constitute one and the same document. Adopted by the Board via ad referendum on 02 February 2024. (SGD.) AMENAH F. PANGANDAMAN Secretary of Budget and Management (SGD.) ARSENIO M. BALISACAN Secretary of National Economic and Development Authority (SGD.) FREDERICK D. GO Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SGD.) ALFREDO E. PASCUAL Co-Chairperson and Secretary of Trade and Industry (SGD.) RALPH G. RECTO Chairperson and Secretary of Finance Footnotes 1. FIRB Form No. 2000MU.