Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares confirms declaration over businesses will not receive tax breaks from the government despite their income losses from the areas affected by super Typhoon Yolanda.
Meeting was organized at the command post of the multi-agency Task Force Yolanda at the Leyte Sports Development Complex in Tacloban City with business owners and (–foul word(s) removed–)ociates and Henares told them that providing tax break is an act against the law despite the losses and damages that many businessmen had undergo including store buildings and several business structures destroyed by Yolanda.
“But we can be very considerate,” Henares said. However, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez agreed with Henares considering 50% city’s income reduction due to the typhoon and giving tax break with business owner will provoke great loss in the city’s economy citing P400 million on Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
Leyte Chamber of Commerce and Industry head, Henry Cua said, “The discussion was productive. We just hope that our government will also understand us. We have no stocks to sell. We were affected. We just hope that they will offer soft loans to us.”
Meanwhile, Tacloban Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry head, Jack Uy said that his group would ask the local/national government for loans with low interest rates that would help the business men purchase new products replacing the looted goods. “This will help hasten our economic recovery,” Uy said.
In the same meeting, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the government was amenable to the appeal for soft loans. He said, however, that this would still be studied.