WHO WE ARE

EXPANDED FISCAL INCENTIVES REVIEW BOARD

Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 11534, otherwise known as the “Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises” or “CREATE” Act, the powers and functions of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) are enhanced under CREATE as part of its oversight mandate. The FIRB structure under CREATE ensures that apart from tax subsidies, tax incentives are also granted and monitored properly by relevant agencies.

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS

  1. Policy making and oversight on the administration and grant of tax incentives;
  2. Approve or disapprove the grant of tax incentives or tax subsidies;
  3. Formulate place-specific strategic investment plans;
  4. Cancel, suspend, or withdraw the enjoyment of tax incentives or tax subsidies;
  5. Require submission of incentives and benefits data;
  6. Recommend the grant of non-fiscal incentives for highly desirable projects;
  7. Adopt policies for supply chain development and expansion;
  8. Publish incentives and benefits data;
  9. Submit annual report to the President;
  10. Evaluate tax incentives granted to registered entities; and
  11. Exercise all necessary powers to attain the purposes of the Act and other laws vesting additional functions on the FIRB.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FISCAL INCENTIVES REVIEW BOARD

The FIRB is an inter-agency body created under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 776 on August 24, 1975 originally tasked with the responsibility of determining what tax should be withdrawn, revoked or suspended under  certain fiscal parameters.

When PD 1931 (June 11, 1984) and 1955 (October 15, 1984) withdrew the tax exemptions of government and private entities respectively, the FIRB was tasked to review which of these withdrawn tax privileges may be restored given certain parameters.  Consequently, a number of tax privileges were restored and caused certain fiscal pressures on government operations.

When Executive Order (EO) No. 93 withdrew on a general basis, effective March 10, 1987, the tax and duty exemption of both government and private entities, it also instituted a system of  subsidy to take care of tax and duty liabilities of government entities affected thereby for the purpose of fiscal transparency.  The administration of this subsidy for government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) was given to the FIRB and for national government agencies (NGAs), to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).