THE Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) said it approved the revised Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP), which removes several activities from the list of qualified investments, according to a resolution released this week.
The resolution, uploaded on Tuesday, detailed the FIRB’s approval of the draft 2025-2027 SIPP presented by the Board of Investments (BoI).
The draft includes the removal of activities such as motor vehicle inspection centers, facilities for scrapping, treating, storing, and disposing of old public utility vehicles, as well as industries affected by geopolitics and trade wars, the FIRB said.
“Catering and barter shall be among those excluded as registrable activities under Section 293(R) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended,” according to the resolution. “Mining-related extraction activities shall be excluded or removed in the 2025 SIPP and its general policies and specific guidelines.”
It retained the classification of modern voice services as a creative or knowledge-based industries and services export as well as defense services in Tier II but upgraded defense-related manufacturing to Tier III.
The FIRB said the draft also prescribed a ceiling for the housing units eligible for incentives at P3.6 million per unit, which will not be limited to the economic housing segment.
The BoI said last week that it is planning to release the SIPP before the State of the Nation Address in July, with plans to add coal mining and production to the activities eligible for priority status.
In an advisory on Wednesday, the FIRB added that it extended the deadline for the filing of the Annual Tax Incentives Report (ATIR) and the Annual Benefits Report (ABR).
With the extension, registered business enterprises have until June 15 to submit the tax documents in light of the national energy emergency.
Meanwhile, the deadline for the consolidated ATIR and ABR for all investment promotion agencies and the Cooperative Development Authority was also moved to July 15. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
