The proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) measure should attract big-ticket investments in agriculture and agro-industry, said Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
“This new CREATE measure should be able to support and promote more investments in farming, fishing, and other related industries. At napakaraming opportunity dito,” Pangilinan said, noting that only the agriculture sector grew during the pandemic.
The farmer-senator underscored the importance of incentivizing investments and technology in agriculture and agro-industry.
“This new CREATE measure should be able to support and promote more investments in farming, fishing, and other related industries.”
“Ang daming pwedeng pagkakitaan halimbawa sa punong niyog na natatapon lang. Right now, we’re throwing away 99 percent of our coco water. Billions of liters,” the veteran legislator said.
“The market price of a liter of coco water ice is around a dollar. So that’s already P3 billion dollars that is being thrown away,” the seasoned lawmaker pointed out.
He cited other coconut-based products that are being thrown away because the farmers do not have access to proper technology to produce and package them for distribution to existing markets.
Senate Bill No. 1357 or CREATE is the recalibrated version of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA).
“We want both technology and investments to come in immediately so that we can bring value-adding to the coconut industry and not just rely on the copra, which is really at the bottom of the value-adding ladder,” Pangilinan stressed.
Senate Bill No. 1357 or CREATE is the recalibrated version of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA). CITIRA, as the Administration’s second tax reform package, was adapted for economic stimulus needs due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
CITIRA was passed by the House of Representatives (as House Bill 4157) in September 2019. In the Senate, CITIRA became CREATE which is now in the period of interpellations. The Lower House committed to adopt CREATE, or the Senate version of CITIRA.
Aside from lowering corporate income tax rates, CREATE also provides different tax perks depending on location and type of industry of the business.
Pangilinan said the perks of Tier 1 of CREATE should help entice investors to bring in needed investments and technology that could help boost the country’s agriculture.