THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. is urging the government to look into tax issues clutching the electronics industry.
However, the Seipi chief said the problem is “they will be taxed because they are in [Philippine Economic Zone Authority] PEZA zones; so these are duty-free importation of equipment.” The head of the major organization of foreign and Filipino electronics companies in the Philippines divulged that the tax rate depends on the equipment. Lachica said the tax would be “substantial if you’re talking of say, for example, a $500,000 piece of equipment.”Meanwhile, he said that another pain point that the industry is facing is the availment of incentives for research and training.
“The reality is, we still have high operating costs. You know, the power logistics, even labor, including water. And so I realized that we can’t reverse what was done in terms of, you know, the incentives rationalization, but we really need to solve this problem, otherwise, you know, we’re still talking about maybe just getting 17 percent to 20 percent of what Asean competitors are getting. So we need to resolve that,” Lachica said.