The Philippines is having a great start this year — and this is all thanks to Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill, which was implemented at the start of the year. Business Mirror reported that the office sector of the Philippines’ real estate industry, especially Metro Manila, is becoming resilient, said Pronove Tai International Property Consultants CEO Monique Pronove.
“In the quarter when TRAIN’s first package was implemented and inflation rose to its highest since 2011, the office property market registered a strong start,” she said a media briefing of the company as quoted by Business Mirror.
The TRAIN bill, which is also known as the Republic Act No. 10963, is the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP). This law allows tax cuts for around 8 million employees who have P250,000 annual salaries. Meanwhile, thew TRAIN bill also provides a targeted cash transfer of P200 for this year, and 300 per month in 2019 and 2020, which will come from the taxes paid by the rich, for the poorest 10 million households, along with better services — social services, healthcare, and education.
The TRAIN bill was signed into Law by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on December 19, 2017 and made its effect last January 1, 2018.
Inquirer.net reported that Pronove Tai International Property Consultants said that once the TRAIN law is implemented, “socialized housing transactions worth P450,000 and below as well as low cost housing worth P3 million and below will be exempted from value added tax (VAT). This is an improvement from the previously exempted low cost housing sales worth P1.9 million.”
“This translates to savings of up to P360,000 for starting families due to the VAT exemption,” Pronove explained, as quoted by Inquirer.net
With this, the office market is currently experiencing growth since the additional supply of 250,000 square meters (sq m) of workspace became available at the end of March this year, based on the Q1 2018 Metro Manila Office Market Overview of Pronove Tai.
Having eight new completed building from January to March 2018, this equivalent to a 3% growth quarter-on-quarter and is 55% higher than the same period as last year’s.
Regarding the supply on the first quarter, Taguig City has the most completions, accomplishing around 106,000 sq m, or 42 percent. The next is Quezon City with 84,000 sq m, or 34 percent; Mandaluyong City with 40,000 sq m or 16 percent; Ortigas Center with 12,000 sq m or 5 percent; and Makati with 9,000 sq m or 4 percent.
“[The] Bay Area, which was the fastest growing district for the past two years, registered zero-percent growth or no new completions for the first three months of 2018,” Pronove said. It also cited that Muntinlupa and other areas are experiencing the same trend.
The first-quarter office stock in the Metro with having a total of 10 million sq m — in which Makati has the largest share, with 33 percent, or 3.3 million sq m. This was followed by Taguig, with 20 percent or 2 million sq m; Ortigas with 16 percent or 1.6 million sq m; Quezon City with 10 percent or 1.1 million sq m; Bay Area with 8 percent or 753,000 sq m; Mandaluyong with 6 percent or 629,000 sq m; Muntinlupa with 5 percent or 512,000 sq m; and other areas with 1 percent or 114,000 sq m.
All thanks to the TRAIN Law, offices have become more accessible. Combining this with other laws that promote investment in the country, the Philippines has definitely lived up to its name as a business hub. With this and the help of Ezy Outsourcing Hub, office leasing in manila won’t be a problem. Ezy Outsourcing Hub offers serviced offices fully equipped with the necessary tools to start the workday, along with strategic locations that make it convenient for employees and clients to meet and collaborate. To know more, call 02-6571872 / +61 419 200 663 or email contact@ezyoutsourcinghub.com.
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