HIS EXCELLENCY BENIGNO C. AQUINO III
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang, Manila

Re: Appeal for Reform of the Tax Regime for International (Foreign) Air and Shipping Carriers

Dear Mr. President,

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) and many business organizations (both local and foreign) agree that the Philippine economy could expand faster, attract more foreign investment and two-way trade and employ more people, if the cost of doing business with and in the country can be lowered. There is no question that the Philippines must become more competitive in comparison with neighbors in ASEAN and Asia, and with economies in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

While the business environment and the cost of doing business here have been extensively addressed in Arangkada– The Philippine Business Perspective, we wish to focus on two specific issues today:

• Common Carriers Tax (CCT), and
• Gross Philippine Billings (GPB),

which are imposed on international carriers, both air and sea, and create an onerous financial burden on their continued operations, making it more expensive – and therefore less attractive – to call on the Philippines, depriving the import / export industry in the Philippines of more competitive freight costs and depriving the Philippine tourism industry of the tourist potential.

[To read further, please download the attached Adobe PDF document that can be found herein.]