Every so often, corporations undertake business restructuring with varying business objectives in mind. It could be to optimize or streamline business operations, to expand to other industries, or to form strategic alliances with other corporations. In most cases, these would involve the transfer or exchange of significant property or shares, the taxes related to which become a material consideration to the parties involved.

NICKEL PRICES are expected to come off current highs in 2021 as more supply becomes available to the market, but will be underpinned by recovering economies, Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research said.

THE GOVERNMENT is awaiting recommendations on measures to be pursued in conjunction with a state of emergency declaration to address African Swine Fever (ASF), which are expected to include a P1-billion fund to indemnify farmers whose hogs have had to be culled.

THE Department of Water Resources (DWR) needs to be established to better deal with private-sector investors and to unify the management of more than 30 agencies involved in water resources, an economic planner said.

THE Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said overlapping and sometimes conflicting regulation of the water sector is holding back the industry’s growth.

THE food security strategy for 2021 will involve addressing local shortages and surpluses by transporting commodities across regions, and diversifying staple foods, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said, with imports to be shipped in as a last resort. 

SOUTHEAST ASIA is regressing in its effort to meet its sustainable development goals (SDGs) relating to climate action, ocean health, and ensuring peace and justice, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

A BILL permitting pension benefits to transfer along with workers as they change jobs is expected to boost retirement packages and help develop the capital markets, economic managers said.

THE Department of Energy (DoE) said 69 areas in Negros Occidental and Palawan are now allowed to source power from qualified third parties (QTPs).

THE House Committee on Ways and Means approved a measure that will impose a P20 tax on plastic carrier bags by weight, with the measure estimated to be capable of generating up to P4 billion in taxes annually if enacted.

THE GOVERNMENT should intervene to expand the supply of pork rather than impose price controls, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said in a television interview Monday.

A HOUSE committee approved Monday a bill creating state senior high schools specializing in industrial trades, which its proponent said could generate tax incentives for companies that agree to invest in or donate to such institutions.