Finance chief urges Senate to pass CREATE Act

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III urged the Senate to pass the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, emphasizing its role as a significant economic stimulus for pandemic-affected businesses.

The CREATE Act aims to reduce the corporate income tax rate from 30% to 25% starting July 2020, with further reductions planned by 2027.

This reform is projected to free up approximately P42 billion in business capital for 2020 and an estimated P625 billion over the next five years.

Dominguez highlighted that the bill's revenue-negative aspect is intended to allow businesses to retain more resources for operations and employee retention.

The bill also includes an extended net operating loss carry-over provision and retains incentives for investments in rural areas.

The Finance Secretary expressed hope that Congress would pass the CREATE Act before their adjournment to implement the tax rate reduction by July.