|
||
|
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8756H.No.7550 S.No.1591 Republic of the Philippines Congress of the Philippines Metro manila Eleventh Congress Second Regular Session --------#--------- Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-sixth day of July, nineteen hundred and ninety nine --------#--------- [REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8756] AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE TERMS, CONDITIONS AND LICENSING REQUIREMENTS OF REGIONAL OR AREA HEADQUARTERS, REGIONAL OPERATING HEADQUARTERS AND REGIONAL WAREHOUSES OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 220. OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE OMNIBUS INVESTMENTS CODE OF 1987. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: SECTION 1: “The title of Book III of Executive Order No. 226, otherwise known as the Omnibus Investment Code of 1987, is hereby amended as follows: BOOK III “INCENTIVES TO MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES ESTABLISHING REGIONAL OR AREA HEADQUARTERS AND REGIONAL OPERATING HEADQUARTERS IN THE PHILIPPINES” SEC. 2. Definition of Terms – For purpose of this act, the term:
SEC. 3. The Title and article 58 of Chapter I of the same Code are hereby amended as follows: CHAPTER I LICENSING OF REGIONAL OR AREA HEADQUARTERS Act. 58 Qualification of Regional or Area Headquarters. Any foreign business entity formed, organized and existing under any laws other than those of the Philippines whose purpose as expressed in its organizational documents or by resolution of its Board of Directors or its equivalent, is to supervise, superintend, inspect or coordinate its own affiliates, subsidiaries or branches in the Asia Pacific Region and other foreign markets may establish in regional or area headquarters in the Philippines, by securing a license therefore from the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon the favorable recommendation of the Board of Investments. The Securities and Exchange Commission shall, within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Code, issue the implementing rules and regulations. The following minimum requirements shall, however, be complied with the said foreign entity:
SEC. 4. Book III of the same Code is hereby further amended by adding a new chapter designated as Chapter II to read as follows: CHAPTER II LICENSING OF REGIONAL OPERATING HEADQUARTERS “Art. 59. Qualification of Regional Operating Headquarters (ROHQs). Any foreign business entity formed, organized and existing under any laws other than those of the Philippines may establish a regional operating headquarters in the Philippines to service its own affiliates, subsidiaries or branches in the Philippines, in the Asi-Pacific Region and other foreign markets. ROHQs will be allowed to derive income by performing the qualifying services enumerated under paragraph (b)1 hereunder. ROHQs of non-banking and non-financial institutions are required to secure a license from the securities and Exchange Commission, upon the favorable recommendation of the Board of investments. ROHQs of banking and financial institutions, on the other hand, are required to secure licenses from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, upon the favorable recommendation of the Board of investments. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shall, within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this code, issue the implementing rules and regulations. The following minimum requirements shall be complied with by the said foreign entity:
SEC. 5 Chapter II of the same Code is hereby amended and designated as Chapter III. Articles 59, 60, 61 and 62 under the same Chapter are hereby amended as follows: CHAPTER III INCENTIVES TO EXPATRIATES Art 60. Multiple Entry Visa- Foreign personnel of regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters of multinational companies, their respective spouses and unmarried children under twenty-one (21) years of age, if accompanying them or if following to join them after their admission into the Philippines as non-immigrant shall be issued a multiple entry special visa within seventy-two hours upon submission of all required documents, and which shall be valid for a period of three (3) years to enter the Philippines. Provided, That a responsible officer of the applicant company submits a duly authenticated certificate to the effect that the person who seeks entry into the Philippines is an executive of the applicant company and will work exclusively for applicant’s regional or area headquarters or regional operating headquarters which is duly licensed to operate in the Philippines, and that he will receive a salary and will be paid by the headquarters in the Philippines an amount equivalent to at least Twelve thousand United States dollars ($12,000.00), or the equivalent in other foreign currencies per annum. The admission and stay shall be co-terminus with the validity of the multiple entry special visa. The stay, however, is extendible for three years upon submission to the Bureau of Immigration of a sworn certification by a responsible officer of the regional or area headquarters or regional operating headquarters has withheld tax due on compensation and the same has been paid to the bureau of Internal Revenue. Non-immigrants who have been admitted under the multiple entry special visa as well as their respective spouses and dependents, shall be exempt from the payment of all fees due under the immigration and alien registration laws securing alien certificates of registration; and obtaining emigration clearance certificates and al types of clearances required by any government department or agency, except that upon final departure from the Philippines the employer of the said non-immigrants shall so advise in writing the Bureau of Immigration at least five (5) working days prior to the non-immigrant’s departure and the finally departing non-immigrant employee shall be required to submit to the said office a tax clearance from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Art. 61. Withholding Tax of 15% on Compensation Income- Aliens employed by the regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters of multinational companies shall be subject for each taxable year upon their gross income received as salaries, wages, annuities, compensations, remunerations and emoluments to a tax equal to fifteen percentum (15%) of such gross income. The same tax treatment is applicable to Filipinos employed by multinational companies: Provided, That said Filipinos shall have the option to be taxed at either 15% of gross income or at the regular tax rate on their taxable income in accordance with the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8424. Art. 62. Tax and Duty Free Importation- An alien executive of the regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters of a multinational company shall enjoy tax and duty free importation of personal or household effects as provided for under Section 105 (h) of the Tariff and Customs Code, as amended, and Section 109 (I) of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended: Provided , That the personal and household effects shall arrive in the Philippines within ninety (90) days before or after conversion of the alien executive’s admission category to multiple entry visa issued under this Act. Art. 63. Travel Tax Exemption- Personnel of regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters of multinational companies and the dependents of such foreign personnel if joining them during the period of their assignments in the Philippines, as certified by the Board of Investments, shall be exempted from the payment of travel tax imposed under Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 1183, as amended. Sec. 6 Chapter III of the same Code is hereby amended and designated as Chapter IV Articles 63, 64, 65, 66 and 67 are hereby amended to read as follows: CHAPTER IV INCENTIVES TO REGIONAL OR AREA HEADQUARTERS AND REGIONAL OPERATING HEADQUARTERS Art. 64. Corporate Income Tax Incentive to Regional or Area Headquarters and Regional Operating Headquarters. Regional or area headquarters established in the Philippines by multinational companies and which headquarters do not earn or derive income from the Philippines and which act as supervisory, communications and coordinating centers for their affiliates, subsidiaries, or branches in the Asia-Pacific Region and other foreign markets shall not be subject to income tax. Regional operating headquarters shall be subject to a tax rate of ten percent (10%) of their taxable income as provided for under the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 8424: Provided , That any income derived from Philippines sources by the ROHQ when permitted to the parent company shall be subject to the tax on branch profit remittances as provided for in Section 28 (a) (5) of the National Internal Revenue Code. Art. 65. Value Added Tax. The regional or area headquarters established in the Philippines by multinational companies shall be exempted from the value-added tax. In addition, the sale or lease of goods and property and the rendition of services to regional or area headquarters shall be subject to zero percent (0%) VAT rate as provided for in the National Internal revenue Code, as amended. Regional operating headquarters shall be subject to the ten percent (10%) valueadded tax as provided for under the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended. Art. 66. Exemption From All Kinds of Local Taxes, Fees, or Charges. The regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters of multinational companies shall be exempt from all kinds of local taxes, fees, or charges imposed by a local government unit except real property tax on land improvements and equipment. Art. 67. Tax and Duty Free Importation of Training Materials and Equipment; Importation of Local Vehicles. Regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters shall enjoy tax and duty-free importation of equipment and materials for training and communication which are needed and used solely for their functions as regional or area headquarters or regional operating headquarters and which are not locally available subject to the prior approval of the Board of Investments. The sale or disposition or equipment within two (2) years after importation entered tax and duty-free, shall require prior approval of the Board of Investments and prior payment of applicable taxes and duties waived in favor of RHQ/ROHQ. Regional or area headquarters and regional operating headquarters shall be entitled to the importation of new motor vehicles subject to the payment of the corresponding taxes and duties. BOOK IV “INCENTIVES TO MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES ESTABLISHING REGIONAL WAREHOUSES TO SUPPLY SPARE PARTS, COMPONENTS, SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS AND RAW MATERIALS TO THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION AND OTHER FOREIGN MARKETS” SEC. 7. Articles 68, 69, 70, 71 and 72 of the same Code are hereby amended to read as follows: Art. 68. Qualifications- A multinational company organized and existing under any laws other than those of the Philippines which is engaged in international trade and supplies spare parts, components, semi-finished products and raw materials to its distributors or markets in the Asia-Pacific area and other foreign areas and which has established or will simultaneously establish a regional or area headquarters and/or regional operating headquarters in the Philippines in accordance with the provisions of Book III of this Code and the rules and regulations implementing the same may also establish a regional warehouse or warehouses in ecozones in the Philippines, after securing a license therefore from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). With respect to regional warehouses located or will locate in ecozones with special charters, such license shall be secured from the concerned ecozone authorities. For existing regional warehouses, said license shall be secured from the Board of Investments unless they choose to relocate inside ecozones Provided That.
The Board of Investments, the PEZA or concerned ecozone authorities in consultation with the Regional Director of Customs of the district where the warehouse will be situated shall cause an examination of the premises to be made and if found satisfactory, it may authorize its establishmentwithout complying with the requirements of any other government body, subject to the following conditions:
Art. 69. Tax Treatment of Imported Articles in the Regional Warehouse.
Art. 70 Exemption From the Maximum Storage Period Under the Tariff and Customs Code; Period of Storage in the Regional Warehouse. The provision of the law in Section 1908 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended, to the contrary notwithstanding, articles duly entered for warehousing may remain in the regional warehouses for a period of two (2) years from the time of their transfer to the regional warehouse which period may be extended with the Approval of the Board of Investments for an additional period of one (1) year upon payment of the corresponding storage fee of the unexported articles, as provided for under Article 68 (4) for each extension until they are reexported in accordance with the guidelines implementing Book IV of this Code. Any articles withdrawn, released or removed contrary to the provisions of said guidelines shall be forfeited pursuant to the provisions of Article 69, paragraph (b) hereof. Art. 71. Rules and Regulations on the Jurisdiction, Operation and Control Over Qualified Goods in the Regional Warehouse. – The Board of Investments, the PEZA, concerned ecozone authorities and the Bureau of Customs shall jointly issue special rules and regulations on the receiving, handling, custody, entry, examination, classification, delivery, storage, warehousing, manipulation and packaging, release for reexportation or for importation and the delivery to a Filipino distributor and for the safekeeping, recording, inventory and liquidation of said qualified goods, any existing law notwithstanding. Such rules and regulations shall be formulated in consultation with the applicants/operators of regional warehouses. Art. 72. Cancellation of License and Registration. – Any willful violation by the regional or area headquarters or regional operating headquarters of a multinational company which has established a regional warehouse or warehouses contrary to or in violation of the provisions of existing laws and the implementing guidelines of Book IV of this Code shall constitute a sufficient cause for the cancellation of its license, or registration in addition to the penalties herein above provided in Article 69, paragraph (6) hereof: The Board, the PEZA or concerned ecozone authorities, as the case may be, shall have the authority to impose such fines in amounts that are just and reasonable in cases of late submission or non-compliance on the part of registered enterprises, with reporting and other requirements under the Code and its implementing rules and regulations. SEC. 8 Article 73 of the same Code is hereby repealed SEC. 9 A new article is hereby inserted to read as follows: Art. 73. Implementing Rules and Regulations. To implement the provisions of Books III and IV of this Code the Department of Trade and Industry, in coordination with the Department of Foreign affairs, the board of Investments, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the ecozone authorities with special charters, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bureau of Internal Revenue, the bureau of Customs, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Tourism Authority, and the Bureau of Immigration shall jointly promulgate such rules and regulations which shall take effect thirty (30) days after their publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines. SEC 10. Spearability Clause- If any part or section of this Act ids declared unconstitutional for ‘any reason or whatsoever, such parts not so declared shall remain in full force and effect. SEC 11. Repealing Clause- All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. SEC 12. Effectively Clause- This Act shall take effect after thirty (30) days following its full publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines. Approved BLAS F. OPLE President of the Senate MANUEL B. VILLAR, JR. Speaker of the House Of Representatives This Act which s a consolidation of House Bill No. 7550 and Senate Bill No. 1591 was finally passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on October 6, 1999 and October 5, 1999 respectively HEZEL P. GACUTAN Secretary of the Senate ROBERTO P. NAZARENO Secretary General House of Representatives Approved Nov. 23, 1999 Joseph E. Estrada President of the Philippines |
||||