On March 26, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law, with several line-item vetoes of the version of the bill endorsed by the legislature. CREATE (Republic Act No. 11534) significantly amends further the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (Tax Code) after its overhaul by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) which took effect on January 1, 2018.  CREATE also amends or repeals various laws granting tax incentives to investors, including incentives under the Omnibus Investments Code, the Special Economic Zone Act, and the charters of special economic zones. Except for the specific provisions in the law which provides its effectivity, CREATE is set to take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or other media. Highlights of CREATE Amending Tax Code: Effective from July 1, 2020, the income tax rates of domestic corporations, in general, and resident foreign corporations are reduced from 30% to 25%. For domestic corporations with taxable income not exceeding ₱5 million and with total assets not exceeding ₱100 million, the income tax rate is reduced from 30% to 20%. Effective January 1, 2021, the income tax rate of nonresident foreign corporations is reduced from 30% to 25% of gross income. Additionally, regional operating headquarters (ROHQs), previously subject to the preferential income tax rate of 10% of taxable income, will be subject to the regular corporate income tax rate of 25% of taxable income; Capital gains on the sale of shares in a domestic corporation by foreign corporations are now taxed at 15% of net capital gains, on...

This Q&A was published in IHC eMagazine Vol1, Issue 1. to read the full magazine, please click here. IHC speaks to Anuj Shah (partner) and Jean Muller (director of strategy) of Indian law firm, Khaitan & Co about the firm’s recent move to open an office in Singapore.   Despite the pandemic, Khaitan & Co opened an office in Singapore. What drove drivers that decision? Jean: Over the last two decades, India has gradually integrated into the global economy and now legal advisors here do a lot of cross-border work. Singapore is the preferred hub in the Asia-Pacific for deal-making since it hosts a critical mass of advisors, decision-makers and providers of capital. We wanted to help our clients address this increasingly complicated world and so acted accordingly. We are seeing unparalleled demand for Indian legal services in Singapore. So, this decision made perfect sense. It took a couple of years to carefully plan our first foray overseas but we believe the market has reached a point where we can add value for our clients by setting up a local presence.   Why is Singapore so important to Indian businesses? Anuj: We see a convergence of factors. Singapore’s financial markets were always critical to Indian businesses, even more so nowadays with new sources of funds to tap for stressed and distressed players. Another factor is the Indian corporate environment is highly litigious. Given the delays to get justice in India, international arbitration has become prevalent, with Singapore-seated arbitrations getting the lion’s share of that market. Today, a majority of SIAC cases involve an Indian party, and many of the...

DFDL’s William Greenlee sets out the data protection regulatory framework in Malaysia and its recent developments ...