A new tax-related program has been introduced by the Philippines to attract traveling to the nation. According to news reports, in an effort to increase tourism, President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax return program for foreign visitors by 2024. The Presidential Communications Office stated the same (PCO).
For the record, the government collects a 12% VAT on goods consumed within the Southeast Asian nation. The Philippines is now planning to permit foreigners to receive a VAT refund on goods they are exporting. This action is consistent with what many other nations are providing.
In a statement, the PCO said that the proposal was one of several ideas that a private sector advisory council gave to Marcos to help the tourism sector, including enhancing airport operations and infrastructure and encouraging investment in the sector. According to sources, Marcos has also given the go-ahead for the issuance of an online tourist visa for Chinese, South Korean, Indian, and Japanese tourists this year.
With the opening of its borders to foreign travel, the Philippines was able to bring in an estimated $3.68 billion in income from 2.65 million foreign visitors in 2017, exceeding its objective of 1.7 million visitors for the year. According to the Department of Tourism, these records.
In comparison to only 163,879 tourists recorded in 2021, this year’s numbers of 2.02 million foreign nationals and more over 6 lakh Filipinos living abroad were still much down than the annual level of 8.26 million before the epidemic.
The administration now wants to increase the number of tourists arriving this year to 4.8 million.