Cagayan Freeport- The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority has participated in the workshop conducted by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) Secretariat last April 21, 2022 at the Blue Coast Hotel in Santa Ana, Cagayan. The Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) is the government agency authorized   by law to grant tax incentives to business enterprises. The FIRB has the authority to delegate this power to Investment Promotion Agencies (IPA) in the country. CEZA is one among these IPAs.

Mr. Leonardo C. Cruz, Officer-in-Charge of the Cagayan Offices welcomed the team headed by Assistant Secretary Juvy C. Danofrata.

Fifteen employees of CEZA has joined the Batch 6 of FIRB’s on-site IPA Workshop Series and has undergone a hands-on training on the Fiscal Incentives Registration and Monitoring System (FIRMS).

FIRMS is an online registration and incentives application portal for (a) investors or business enterprises looking to register a new activity/project and apply for tax incentives, and (b) business enterprises with at least one activity/project currently registered with an IPA. The investor or the business enterprise, through the IPA, shall create its FIRMS account where it will input and upload all the relevant information required by the FIRB.

The IPA Workshop Series is aligned with the commitment to assist the investment promotion agencies on the implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and its IRR and aims to train the officials and staff of these IPAs who serve as evaluators in utilizing the features of the Fiscal Incentives Registration and Monitoring System as well as the know-how in conducting the cost- benefit analysis (CBA) based on the framework being used by the FIRB.

The workshop includes an orientation on the FIRMS, a know-how on the system and the hands-on demonstration in filling up the forms in the said system. The participants were then instructed to create a user account in the FIRB’s FIRMS User Acceptance Testing Site for an actual demonstration in filling the forms using a sample business enterprise model. The knowledge acquired by the participants will be used in assisting the CEZA Registered Enterprises in their registration and compliance with the FIRB. (with inputs from Michelle S. Agabin- Acting Head of the Investment Promotion Division)