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By Katrina April Mennen A. Valdez,
Researcher
TELECOMMUNICATION and cement
companies are set to enjoy tax perks, after their inclusion in this
year’s Investment Priorities Plans (IPP), the draft of which was
recently submitted to Malacañang for Cabinet deliberations.
A source from the
Department of Finance said that though telcos originally had been
stripped of incentive privileges under the proposed 2007 Investment
Priorities Plan (IPP), a recent draft submitted to Malacañang
stated that they are included so long as the projects seeking tax
perks will involve infrastructure for “unserved” areas.
The government however has
yet to determine whether the establishment of new cellular phone
sites would fall under this definition.
The draft also provides that all
telecommunication projects seeking incentives must first be endorsed
by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) or the
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). “The major
consideration will be the endorsement of the DOTC and the NTC,”
the source said.
Besides telcos, new and existing
cement companies could also benefit from tax perks provided they
engage in mining activities, Trade Undersecretary Elmer
Hernandez said.
“Apart from the
requirement of expanding their production capacity, they have to
include mining to get incentives. However, in the event that they
are already into mining operations, they have to expand in order to
get incentives,” he said.
The draft proposal also said that
those companies that are likely to benefit from tax perks are firms
engaged in mining and production of gypsum, limestone and shale,
which are all requisites for cement production.
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