THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently reached an agreement with the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the National Housing Authority (NHA) to facilitate tax incentives for developers of socialized housing projects. The arrangement should greatly accelerate the exemption process, allowing socialized housing projects to be started more quickly. We hope this “streamlining” will also encourage more developers to take on socialized housing projects, and not devote all their efforts to strictly commercial endeavors. The need for low-cost housing of all types in the Philippines, including socialized housing for the poorest people, is almost overwhelming. Further cooperation from other agencies or enterprises to ensure socialized housing residents have a fair chance to be productive is also needed.

Source: Manila Times November 08, 2016 16:19 UTC