To encourage the establishment of more agribusiness enterprises and attract young agripreneurs, Agriculture Secretary William Dar fully supports the passage of the proposed Comprehensive Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira) or House Bill (HB) 4157.
Secretary Dar said Citira, which has already hurdled the House of Representatives, could lead to the setting up of more thriving agribusiness enterprises outside of Metro Manila and special economic and export processing zones (SEZs & EPZAs), thus creating more off-farm jobs and helping reduce poverty incidence.
At present, incentives like tax holidays are granted mostly to companies or locators in EPZs and EPZAs.
Citira proposes to extend the granting of incentives, like tax holidays to 10 years, to agribusiness firms outside Metro Manila and current SEZs or EPZs locators wanting to set up branches in less-developed regions.
Secretary Dar also said Citira’s provision to reduce the 30-percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent by 2029 can encourage agripreneurs to form more micro, small or medium enterprises (MSMEs), and for cooperatives to convert into corporations.
The tax reduction would benefit all MSMEs that comprise 99 percent of all businesses in the country, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
“More agribusiness companies operating outside Metro Manila will also lead to the formation of more ‘small brother-big brother’ arrangements between smallholder farmers and agri-industrial firms,” he added.
He also encouraged small farmers and fisherfolk to form cooperatives and food manufacturing enterprises and engage in value-adding.
Further, he urged more Filipino youth to engage in agriculture, fisheries, food processing, and agribusiness enterprises.
“Lowering the corporate income tax under Citira will help attract more Filipino youth into agribusiness over the long term. So, I also see Citira helping create an ecosystem for agripreneurship and take root in the rural areas,” Dar added.
He said the DA will launch early next year a national agripreneur program catering exclusively to graduates of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and agribusiness college courses.
“There is so much room for pioneering activities in agriculture and agribusiness, and granting incentives to attract investors in the rural areas,” he added.
The Duterte administration is pushing for the passage of Citira as it will rationalize tax incentives, define clear criteria for the incentives, and centralize the granting and monitoring of incentives through the Fiscal Incentives and Review Board (FIRB), to be chaired by the finance secretary. ### (DA Communications Group)
