Creba backs passage of Create

*_{Creba National President Noel ‘Toti’ Cariño (left) and Creba National Chairman Charlie Gorayeb.}*

The Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) on Wednesday called for the passage of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives Reform Act (Create) to ramp up the country’s economic recovery.

In a statement, Creba said Create would help businesses recover from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic by enhancing the country’s ability “to attract highly desirable investments that will serve public interest.”

Create aims to reduce the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent from the current 30 percent.

Creba said that during a meeting with Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto last month, it welcomed amendments to Create. These, it added, included provisions covering the sale of low-cost housing, which stands to lose tax perks by January 2021 under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act.

The group earlier appealed against the removal of value-added tax (VAT) exemption on housing purchases up to P3.2 million per unit.

Creba said the amendment would raise VAT-exemption caps to P2.5 million for residential lots and P4.2 million for houses and lots, to be adjusted based on consumer price index starting January 2024 and every three years thereafter.

This is a huge step to keep home prices affordable while ensuring the resurgence of opportunities for the housing industry, it added.

Creba National Chairman Charlie Gorayeb pointed said raising the VAT-exemption ceilings would offer relief to home buyers, while Creba National President Noel Cariño said homebuyers needed housing loan assistance from the government.

“Create will help the home buyers, as well as pump-prime the housing industry. And with housing developments being globally-recognized for its multiplier effects, a robust housing industry will be a primary catalyst for the country’s overall economic recovery. The salient provisions championed by Senator Recto are major steps toward that direction,” Gorayeb and Cariño said.

Article and Photo originally posted by Manila Times last December 3, 2020 and written by Anna Leah E. Gonzales.