The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) has introduced new tax and investment incentives for tourism-related enterprises that will benefit business upgrading/modernizing their facilities to ensure the safety, health and wellness of tourists and gearing up for the new normal setting. Recipients of the new incentive schemes are businesses involved in the MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry, hotels and resorts, and tourist transport companies nationwide. According to the BOI, to avail of the incentives, the businesses need to be accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) which has earlier waived its accreditation fees.
The tax incentives that will be granted include an income tax holiday for three years which is pro-rated according to the amount of upgrade or renovation, and duty-free importation of capital equipment (only Value-Added Tax will be paid) for COVID-proofing tourism projects.
Examples of facility upgrades include:
- Renovation of guestrooms, food and beverage outlets, function/meeting rooms, recreation areas and/or other common areas
- Investment in new or upgrade of laundry, kitchen, housekeeping, employee facilities and other back of house facilities
- Building of full, partial or movable partitions
- Installation of built-in thermal scanners, hygiene gates, and/or booths
- Upgrade or improvement of ventilation, air conditioning, air filtration systems, water systems, water treatment facilities (STP)
- Mobile check-in system
- Non-touch or no contact door lock systems and non-touch control panels in elevators and other areas
Tourism transport companies should have locally-assembled vehicles and should have sanitation and safety features that would support physical distancing such as barriers, payment portals, deionizers, and seat organizers for sanitation kits.
(Sources: Board of Investments, Philippines; GMA News; Philippine News Agency)
