The Fiscal Incentives Review Board chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III plans to harmonize the investor fees collected by investment promotion agencies.
The FIRB instructed all investment promotion agencies to submit a copy of the schedule of rates for various services relating to the grant and administration of tax incentives to registered business enterprises-investors, according to the Department of Finance.
It said the FIRB Secretariat advised all IPAs in a recent memorandum to submit copies of their respective fees relating to the grant and administration of tax incentives, with the details on the cost recovery and income generation.
This harmonization initiative will adopt the principle under Administrative Order No. 31 issued by the Office of the President, which mandated that the imposition of fees and charges of the government should be primarily for cost recovery and should strike a balance between recovering the cost of services and the socio-economic impact of the imposition shall be sought, it said.
Finance assistant secretary and FIRB Secretariat head Juvy Danofrata said the move was prompted by a directive issued by Dominguez on harmonizing the schedule of fees collected by IPAs as part of the FIRB’s expanded policy-making and oversight functions in the grant and administration of tax incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.
“The need to evaluate and rationalize fees and charges collected by the IPAs is to ensure that there is equity and shared responsibility between the government and its stakeholders,” Dominguez said in a directive during a DOF executive committee meeting.
“The evaluation of fees and charges are best coordinated with the stakeholders to ensure that the rates are just and reasonable,” Dominguez said.
Danofrata said the guidelines would be drafted based on the cost recovery principle subject to a reasonable rate of return. Revenue implications will also be considered in the adoption of the guidelines for the setting of fees.
Danofrata said, “regular consultations with the IPAs will be conducted with their views and suggestions considered to ensure that their schedule of fees and charges are uniform and equitable for all stakeholders.”
