COTABATO CITY – The Regional Bangsamoro Board of Investments of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RBOI-BARMM) joined Monday, Jan. 18, the private sectors and various business groups’ call for the swift passage of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE bill drafted by the Congress.
“On the occasion of the start of the session of Congress in 2021 this week, which week also coincides with the celebration of the Bangsamoro Foundation Day on January 21, the RBOI hopes that Congress will finally pass the CREATE bill as it is the best economic relief for the business constituency of the country and the BARMM,” said lawyer Ishak Mastura, chairman of the RBOI, in a statement released by his office.
RBOI-BARMM is among the Investment Promotion Agencies (IPA) covered by the CREATE law as it is the sole IPA in the BARMM recognized by the national government to dispense fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors in the region, as provided in the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Congress is now trying to reconcile provisions of the versions of the CREATE bill at the Bicameral Conference Committee before it is ratified and submitted for the President’s signature.
The immediate relief for the business sector under the CREATE bill is the tax cut on income taxes ranging from 5% to 10% retroactive to 2020, and as such is considered a major part of the government’s economic relief for businesses suffering from the economic ravages brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. (Bangsamoro Information Office/Regional Board of Investments-BARMM)