FIRB OKs tax incentives for TDK’s P2.5 billion project

MANILA, Philippines — The Cabinet-level Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) has granted tax incentives to the local unit of a Japanese electronics manufacturer for a P2.5-billion project.

In a statement, the Department of Finance, which chairs the FIRB, said it has approved the tax perks incentives of TDK Philippines Corp., the local unit of Tokyo-based TDK Global.

This would cover the manufacturing of microwave-assisted magnetic recording sliders, which basically improves data storage capacity of hard drives.

The P2.5-billion project in Laguna was the first Philippine Economic Zone Authority-endorsed application the FIRB approved.

FIRB secretariat head and finance assistant secretary Juvy Danofrata said the project is considered an export activity under the production and manufacturing of export products.

It is also listed in the government’s 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP).

The project was granted an income tax holiday, special corporate income tax, duty exemption on the importation of capital equipment, raw materials, spare parts, and accessories, as well as value-added tax exemption on importation, and VAT zero-rating on local purchases.

“This is a boost to our semiconductor and electronics industry, which largely contributes to the Philippine economy,” Danofrata said.

She added that the project is expected to generate more employment opportunities as part of the company’s performance commitments.

FIRB chairperson and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, for his part, said the performance commitments of registered business enterprises will be consistently monitored by the investment promotion agency and the FIRB.

“We want to make sure that all these fiscal incentives we grant to registered business enterprises indeed will result in substantial benefits to our economy,” he said.