2 Eagle Cement projects to get tax incentives

Eagle Cement Corp. said that two of its cement projects with a total cost of nearly P19 billion have been recently approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) under the prevailing Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), providing such business activities with fiscal and nonfiscal incentives.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the company said the approvals pointed to an expansion cement project in Bulacan and the cement production of its wholly owned subsidiary South Western Cement Corp. (SWCC).

A check with BOI data showed that the expansion project in Bulacan was worth P6.5 billion, while SWCC’s cement facility amounted to P12.5 billion.

In its disclosure, Eagle Cement said the BOI approved SWCC as a “new producer of cement on a non-pioneer status but with pioneer incentives,” given that the project was located in a less-developed area (LDA).

Under the current IPP, companies that invest in LDAs would be entitled to pioneer incentives, including a six-year income tax holiday and additional deduction from taxable income equivalent to 100 percent of expenses incurred in the development of necessary and major infrastructure facilities.

The IPP was crafted in order to provide fiscal and nonfiscal incentives to companies that invest in the government’s preferred business activities in a bid to achieve a more inclusive growth.

On the other hand, the Ramon Ang-led company said the BOI also approved in July Eagle’s application as an expanding producer of cement in Barangay Akle, San Ildefonso, Bulacan, under the IPP’s manufacturing activities.

Together, these projects help add to the growth in investment pledges registered by BOI. In a recent statement, BOI said that pledges reached P325.8 billion from January to August this year, up 38.4 percent from P235.4 billion in the same period last year.