Clark remits P366.7M in taxes to government

CLARK, Pampanga — The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and companies operating inside the ecozone contributed P366.7 million in taxes to the government last year.

In a report submitted to CDC president Emmanuel Y. Angeles, CDC vice president Romeo N. Dyoco of the business development and corporate group reported that the record remittance is an indication that Clark is fast becoming to be a major contributor to the country’s economic growth.

The duties and taxes remitted to BIR do not include remittances made by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Clark.

Dyoco said that the Clark Special Economic Zone locators remitted some P322.47 million to BIR while CDC contributed P34.33 million. Corporate income tax (filed and charged against tax credits from locators’ five-percent expanded withholding tax on lease) reached more than P9.94 million.

Taxes that went to the national coffers were income from locators through their corporate taxes, employee’s withholding tax and other income generated by the firms, including income from CDC, Dyoco said.

The duties and taxes remitted to the BIR were certified by Florante Aninag, revenue district officer of the regional office of the BIR in the capital town of City of San Fernando in Pampanga.

Clark’s unprecedented growth, according to the report, is mainly due to the upsurge in investments in the ecozone, rapid employment generation and exports boom.

Exports by Clark locators in 2003 reached $613.9 million compared to the export value of $339.3 million in 2002, Angeles said. Angeles said that this development only meant that Clark does not solely rely on the sale of duty free shops operating inside the zone. "This proves instead that Clark is among the top world-class investment sites in the Philippines," Angeles said.

With the continued rise investor’s confidence in Clark Angeles said that Clark’s vision of becoming Asia’s first Aerotropolis will soon be realized. – Ric Sapnu