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IT-BPM enterprises’ work-from-home arrangement for their staff in PEZA economic zones has been extended until December 2022
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But IT-BPM operations may transfer their PEZA registration to the Board of Investments so they can continue their WFH arrangement and enjoy their incentives beyond December 31 this year
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Those companies moving their registration to BOI need not relocate their offices physically to enjoy the same incentives
The work-from-home (WFH) arrangement for information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) enterprises registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has been extended until December 31, 2022, a Department of Finance (DOF) official said.
IT-BPM firms may also transfer their registration from PEZA to the Board of Investments (BOI) so they can continue their WFH arrangement while still enjoying their existing incentives after December, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko told the Senate Committee on Finance in a hearing on September 15.
Tionko said the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) agreed in a meeting on September 14 to extend the WFH arrangement until December, as the COVID-19 pandemic-related state of calamity period has been extended from September 13 to December 31 this year.
DOF had earlier said the 70% on-site and 30% WFH arrangement had been extended until further notice, a few days before the scheme under FIRB Resolution No. 017-22 expired on September 12, the same day the state of calamity period was to have lapsed prior to its extension.
READ: WFH arrangement for IT-BPM firms extended
From now until December, Tionko said, IT-BPM companies registered with PEZA “will be allowed to transfer their registration to BOI” as even with the transfer, “they will [still] be enjoying the same incentives they have been enjoying under the CREATE [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises] Act.”
“The incentives right now under CREATE between BOI and PEZA are already basically the same,” Tionko noted.
She added that with the transfer to BOI, IT-BPM firms will not be subjected to the jurisdictional requirements under PEZA.
Under Republic Act No. 11534 or CREATE, registered enterprises and/or PEZA-registered activities must conduct their business within the geographical boundaries of the ecozone or freeport where they are located to be entitled to fiscal incentives.
Tionko added that IT-BPM companies will only need to transfer their registration and need not transfer their offices physically.
DOF Secretary Benjamin Diokno noted during the same Senate hearing that there are about 2,000 IT-BPM firms registered with PEZA that may transfer to BOI.
PEZA and the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines had earlier requested FIRB to allow the implementation of a hybrid work scheme due to concerns of investors and workers about the ongoing pandemic until December 2022.
PEZA had earlier issued Letters of Authority to registered IT-BPM companies and business enterprises that allow them to implement the hybrid work arrangement, or 30% WFH arrangement, until the end of September 2022.
PEZA said the 30% WFH arrangement is a permissible activity under the PEZA, CREATE and Telecommuting laws.
