BPOs feared to take hit if tax breaks removed

MANILA – Removing tax incentives for foreign companies seeking to outsource operations in the Philippines can discourage investments, an industry official said.

The business process outsourcing industry employs roughly 1 million Filipinos and is a key source of dollars that help stabilize the local currency.

“China is offering a lot of the incentives, here we are trying to take some things out. It’s like are we pushing the investors out,” said Contact Center Association of the Philippines president Jojo Uligan.

“Mahihirapan tayo (We’ll have a hard time). We can no longer compete,” he said.

The tax regime, however, is not the only consideration of investors, said finance undersecretary Antonette Tiokno. – from a report by Jekki Pascual ABS-CBN News.

source: news.abs-cbn.com