Subic Bay Freeport – Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is now looking forward to more global investments after the bill on Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) was signed into law.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño said that with CREATE MORE, also known as Republic Act 12066, Subic Bay Freeport (SBF) will become a prime area for global investments.
Aliño made this statement after the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the CREATE MORE Act was signed by Finance Secretary and Fiscal and Incentives Review Board (FIRB) chair Ralph Recto and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary and FIRB co-chair Ma Cristina Roque at the Department of Finance on February 17, 2025.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and FIRB Board Member Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go, and National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan witnessed the signing.
“Now that the IRR for the CREATE MORE Act is signed, it’s back to work for us here in Subic Bay Freeport as we can now expect more foreign companies to invest here. This is certainly monumental since the IRR clarifies and refines the law’s smooth implementation provisions,” Aliño added.
The official cited that the CREATE MORE Act includes provisions for investors, giving them the option to choose either the Special Corporate Income Tax of 5% or Enhanced Deductions.
He said that more incentives will also be given to high-value investments with capitalization of more than P15 billion and in sectors that are considered import-substituting or export sales.
He added that the CREATE MORE Act also provides additional relief to Registered Business Enterprises (RBEs) by reducing the Corporate Income Tax or CIT rate to 20% from 25%, with the law increasing the additional deduction on electricity from 50% to 100%.
“Tourism-related investments in the SBF will also benefit from the CREATE MORE Act, with the SBMA providing an additional 50% deduction for expenses related to trade fairs and tourism reinvestments until 2034,” Aliño said.
The law also maximizes the benefits of the Net Operating Loss Carry-Over by changing the reckoning period from “year of loss” to the “last year of the project’s income tax holiday (ITH) entitlement period.
Other provisions include tax and duty exemption on donations to public schools and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs); and flexible work arrangements for call centers operating within economic zones and Freeports, without compromising their tax incentives.
Upon approval, local purchases of export-oriented enterprises become VAT zero-rated while importations are VAT-exempt. VAT incentives will also be liberalized by shifting from “direct and exclusive use” to “directly attributable” requirements for goods and services.