The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continues to push for the passage of a law or the implementation of a policy that will institutionalize hybrid workplace for economic zone information technology (IT) locators.
PEZA officer-in-charge Tereso Panga said the agency consider the IT locators’ paper transfer of registration from PEZA to the Board of Investments (BOI) as an interim measure to preserve their export enterprise status as they avail of 100 percent work from home arrangement with full incentives.
This after the Department of Trade and Industry on October 18 issued Memorandum Circular 22-19 which contains the guidelines on the transfer of registration of IT-BPM companies to the BOI to allow 100 percent WFH.
Panga said making hybrid permanent will enable IT firms avail of increased work-from-home threshold with incentives. This will also allow registered business enterprises (RBEs) which transferred their registration to the BOI retain their PEZA status so they can benefit from the agency’s one-stop service and the IT centers’ conducive business environment.
“We expect that PEZA will retain its mandate to promote and facilitate investments and keep the separate customs territory status vested in the ecozones to ensure the competitiveness of our IT sector,” said Panga who assured the IT-business process management sector of the agency’s full support and assistance in the transfer of registration.
The DTI MC covers all affected RBEs in the IT-BPM sector that have remaining incentives under Section 311 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, or those with approved incentives on or before Sept. 14, 2022 under the CREATE Act with the concerned investment promotion agencies, particularly those currently registered with the PEZA, that intend to register with the BOI.
PEZA issued is own MC, No. 2022-067 which provides, among others, that the eligible IT locators will have December 31 to avail of the paper transfer of registration.
The MC provides PEZA will continue to administer to them the fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for the sunset period.
PEZA will also get to retain the monitoring and reporting of the subject locators’ performance and for other compliance requirements. As these covered RBEs will not cancel their registration with PEZA, the agency will be kept whole with its investment facilitation and revenue generation functions.
PEZA also indicated additional reminders for its IT-BPM companies availing of the transfer to which includes maintaining an office inside PEZA-registered IT centers/buildings.
“This is necessary in order for PEZA to retain its authority/jurisdiction over the transferee RBEs, which are required under the rules to operate inside the economic zone,” Panga said.
Failure to comply with this mandatory requirement will result in the cancellation of its registration with PEZA as an IT enterprise and subsequently, its registration with BOI. Irma Isip
