THE Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) now allows information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) enterprises in economic zones to adopt a 90-percent workfrom-home (WFH) arrangement until end-March next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Department of Finance (DoF).

In a statement on Friday, the DoF said under FIRB Resolution 19-21, the WFH arrangement will be allowed until January 1 next year, after which a 75-percent ceiling will be imposed until March 31, 2022 with the exception that if the state of calamity is extended beyond Jan. 1, 2022, the ceiling will be maintained at 90 percent until the end of March 2022.

It emphasized that President Rodrigo Duterte has prolonged the country’s state of calamity until September 12 next year.

The Finance department said the policy was established by the FIRB to address work constraints caused by the pandemic, in accordance with a provision in the implementing rules and regulations of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act that allows an investment promotion agency (IPA) to implement temporary measures as long as they are approved by the FIRB to assist registered business enterprises (RBEs) in recovering from the pandemic national emergencies or major disasters.

The memo, signed by Finance Secretary and FIRB Chairman Carlos Dominguez 3rd, said RBEs in the IT-BPM sector had until September 30 this year to submit the following to their respective IPAs: their total number of employees and the number of employees under the WFH arrangement; and a detailed list of the laptops, desktops and other equipment and assets brought out of the economic or freeport zones.

The DoF said this list should include the quantity of assets, their acquisition cost and book value, and the amount of bond paid to cover 150 percent of the amount of taxes and duties, if imported, and value-added tax, if locally sourced, of the equipment and assets taken outside the ecozones.

“Bonds shall be posted for all equipment (e.g. desktops and laptops) deployed by the RBE to their employees’ homes to ensure payment of taxes and duties if any such equipment is not returned to the site of the RBE after the WFH arrangement,” the memo reads.

The Finance department added that RBEs must also submit to their IPAs a report on any additional equipment or other assets brought out of the economic or freeport zones, as well as the current total number of employees and number of employees under the WFH arrangement, within five days after the end of each month.

The RBEs have until September 30 this year to submit a certification to their IPAs stating that the export requirement and the number of employees would be met, it underscored.

“Noncompliance with the conditions prescribed under FIRB Resolution 19-21 may result in suspension, withdrawal or cancellation of tax incentives of the RBEs,” the memo states.