Economists buck ‘inequitable, inefficient’ CREATE bill

A day before Congress goes on sine die break, 24 economists and professors at Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and University of the Philippines sought further tweaks in the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, which they claimed would not benefit small businesses.

“We oppose CREATE in its current form and its accompanying supporting provisions on the following grounds: CREATE is both inequitable and inefficient: in contrast to the position of its proponents, who tout CREATE as a fiscal stimulus amid the economic decline brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is in fact a mere tax relief for incorporated businesses, equivalent to a subsidy, leaving out microenterprises and unincorporated small and medium enterprises. CREATE definitely falls short in terms of distributive justice,” the economists said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The signatories were national scientist Raul Fabella, former socioeconomic planning secretaries Dante Canlas and Emmanuel Esguerra, Ronald Mendoza, Ramon Clarete, Majah Leah Ravago, Sarah Lynne Daway-Ducanes, Leonardo Lanzona, Marjorie Pajaron, Geoffrey Ducanes, Joseph Lim, Luisito Abueg, Agham Cuevas, Marites Tiongco, Yolanda Tan Garcia, Ma. Angeles Catelo, Asa Jose Sajise, Krista Danielle Yu, Amelia Bello, Jefferson Arapoc, Paul Joseph Ramirez, Emmanuel Genesis Andal, Niño Alejandro Manalo and Anna Floresca Firmalino.

“CREATE is an immediate negative shock to tax collection and the national budget at a time when the budget deficit has breached targets considered manageable; the deficit-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio has exceeded the original target of 3.2 percent at this point and is projected to reach 8.1 percent in 2020,” they said. —BEN O. DE VERA INQ