Latest news with #CapitalMarketsEfficiencyPromotionAct
GMA Network
22-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
SEC expects increase in retirement funds amid CMEPA tax cuts
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expecting Filipinos to boost their investment in retirement funds under Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) products due to a tax cut in an employer's contribution to their workers' personal retirement fund. In particular, the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA)—which standardizes the withholding tax on interest earned from deposit products at 20%—also provides an additional 50% tax deduction to the actual contributions of employers who contribute an amount equal to or greater than their employees' contributions to PERA. PERA, established under Republic Act 9505, or the PERA Act of 2008, is a voluntary retirement saving program available to the public apart from existing national pension schemes such as Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Unlike the existing mandatory pension schemes, PERA does not require a deduction from one's salary to accumulate funds. "The CMEPA strengthens the role of PERA by offering stronger incentives for long-term savings. It encourages companies to support their employees' retirement planning while simultaneously increasing the capital available in the financial system, stimulating the local stock market," said SEC Chair Francis Lim. "At its core, CMEPA is designed to align the Philippine capital markets more closely with regional peers by removing longstanding barriers to investor participation. This supports the Commission's mission to continue introducing reforms that will increase the local market's competitiveness. The strict implementation of provisions under CMEPA is key toward ensuring broader public participation in the capital market and fostering a deeper investment culture among Filipinos," added Lim. Apart from the uniform 20% withholding tax on interest income from savings accounts regardless of maturity or lock-in periods, CMEPA reduced the stock transaction tax (STT) to 0.1% from 0.6%. The law also slashed the Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) on the original issuance of shares of stock to 0.75% from 1% of par value—an incentive for companies seeking capital through initial public offerings (IPOs) or follow-on equity listings. CMEPA also "harmonized" the capital gains tax to a flat 15% on shares of foreign corporations as the Philippines aligns its tax regime with global standards to help attract more foreign investments. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
20-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
DOF eyes strengthening info campaign amid spread of fake news on CMEPA
The Department of Finance (DOF) on Sunday said it is looking into amplifying its public information campaign following the spread of viral posts on interest income. 'Sa ngayon, hindi pa namin alam kung bakit ito nag-viral. Lesson learned ito sa DOF that we need to intensify our campaign information particularly sa aming mga reporma,' DOF Assistant Secretary Karlo Adriano told Super Radyo dzBB. (As of now, we still don't know why it went viral. This serves as a lesson for the DOF to strengthen our public information efforts, particularly regarding our reforms.) In a separate dzBB interview, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the spread of fake news related to the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA) is a move intended to scare and deceive the public. 'Sinasadya talagang linlangin at i-confuse ang ating mga kababayan (It's a clear attempt to mislead and confuse the public),' Gatchalian said. The spread of fake news came right after the passage of the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA), which mandates banks to implement the uniform 20% final withholding tax (FWT) on interest income, regardless of the term or currency denomination, starting this month. The passage of the CMEPA gained public attention, perhaps due to confusion, as several online posts have circulated claiming it imposes a 20% tax on total savings or bank deposits. 'Ang binubuwisan natin since 1998 ay 'yung interest income ng inyong savings sa bangko. Kumikita 'yan ng interest kapag natutulog sa bangko at 'yan ay binubuwisan ever since 1998,' Adriano explained. (What we've been taxing since 1998 is the interest income from your bank savings. That money earns interest while sitting in the bank, and it has been taxed since 1998.) — RF, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
18-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Should you bother about CMEPA's 20% tax on interest earned from savings?
The spotlight is on the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA), signed into law by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. last May and took effect this month, because of a provision that standardized the tax rate on interest income earned on savings or deposit products in a bank. This provision might have caused public confusion, perhaps due to several posts circulating that it imposes a 20% tax on total savings. The Department of Finance (DOF) has since clarified that only the interest earned from a depositor's savings in a bank is taxed 20%, and not the amount of savings itself. Under CMEPA, all interest income deposited in banks is charged a 20% withholding tax, which local banks started to implement on July 1, 2025. 'A final tax of 20% is hereby imposed upon the amount of interest yield, or other monetary benefit earned or received from any currency bank deposit, deposit substitute, trust fund, or other similar arrangements,' Section 6 of the measure reads. Clearly, the law does not slap tax on total savings deposited in a bank, but on the interests it earns. What is CMEPA? The Republic Act No. 122141 or CMEPA amended several provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code, namely sections 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 32, 34, 38, 39, 42, 51, 56, 57, 127, 149, 174, 176, 179, 190, 199, and 258, to 'harmonize' and simplify taxation of passive income across financial instruments in a bid to encourage wider public participation in the country's capital markets. The law defines 'passive income' as any income earned from sources that do not require a taxpayer's active pursuit and performance of trade or business. CMEPA and the 20% interest tax: What gives? Prior to CMEPA's enactment into law, all interest earned in a regular savings account is already charged 20%. Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said, '1998 pa may buwis 'yan.' Recto said 99.6% of depositors or those with regular savings accounts are already being taxed on the interest they earned before the law took effect. Below is a sample computation from the Asian Consulting Group (ACG), which shows how a 20% tax on interest earned in a year at 0.250% could be reflected in a regular savings account with P100,000: Before CMEPA After CMEPA Interest earned at 0.250% (1year) P250 P250 Less: 20% final withholding tax P50 P50 Interest income received P200 P200 Prior to the uniform tax rate, taxes on interest earned from savings were tiered and based on the maturity or lock-in periods — 20% for those less than three years; 12% for three years to less than four years; 5% for four years to less than five years; exemptions for more than five years; and 15% for foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) or dollars. The Finance chief said that only 0.4% of depositors enjoyed the preferential tax rates. 'Kaya ginawang uniform… kasi 0.4% lang ang may long-term savings,' Recto said. With the law in effect, those who will open a long-term time deposit account would now bear the 20% tax on the interest they earn, which was previously tax-exempt if the maturity was over five years. Below is a sample computation from ACG for a seven-year time deposit of P500,000 earning an annual interest rate of 2.50%: Before CMEPA After CMEPA Interest earned (1 year) P12,500 P12,500 Less: 20% final withholding tax Tax-exempt P2,500 Interest income earned P12,500 P10,000 ACG chief tax advisor Mon Abrea echoed Recto's explanation, saying that the 20% tax on interest earned from savings is 'not a new tax.' 'The recently enacted Capital Market Efficiency and Protection Act (CMEPA) does not introduce a new tax on savings or deposit accounts. Interest income from such deposits has long been subject to a 20% final withholding tax under the Tax Reform Act of 1997,' Abrea said. 'What CMEPA does is standardize the tax treatment by also imposing the same 20% final tax on interest income from long-term time deposits, which were previously exempt if held for more than five years. This reform promotes fairness and consistency in the Philippine tax system and aligns with international best practices, where interest income - regardless of the term - is generally subject to tax,' the tax expert said. The Finance Department has further clarified that the standardized tax rate of 20% is 'not retroactive,' meaning it does not apply to financial instruments that were issued or transacted prior to July 1, 2025. 'Therefore, existing long-term deposits made prior to the effectivity of the law will continue to enjoy the preferential rate until their maturity,' the DOF said. Fair or regressive? The Finance Department has argued that the previous 'special tax treatment' favored depositors who can afford to park their savings in long-term deposits, which made the tax unfair for short-term depositors who face liquidity issues and need immediate access to their funds. 'The CMEPA merely corrects this outdated and inequitable system that has placed a heavier burden on ordinary Filipinos who do not have the extra cash to put in banks for longer periods,' the DOF said. Non-profit economic research group IBON Foundation's executive director Sonny Africa, however, is not convinced that the law's standardized tax rate is 'equalizing.' 'Standardizing tax rates may sound fair but equalizing tax on interest income at 20% will be regressive in effect because ordinary savers will end up paying the same rate as the ultra-rich. The DOF is being insensitive — equal treatment of unequals is unequal in effect,' Africa said. 'The uniform 20% tax on interest income is regressive because ordinary savers will pay the same rate as the ultra-rich,' he added. Citing a report from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, IBON's executive director said that 20.1 million or three out of four Filipino families 'didn't have any savings as of the end of 2024.' 'This brute fact should put into context any hype that the new law empowers ordinary Filipinos,' Africa said. Nevertheless, CMEPA does not impose the unified tax rate to provident savings programs under the Social Security System (SSS) and the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG such as the MP2 and would remain exempt from tax. 'The tax exemptions on SSS, GSIS, Pag-IBIG are welcome because these are public schemes," Africa said. Capital markets With the law's aim to encourage wider public participation in the country's capital markets, CMEPA reduced the stock transaction tax (STT) rate from 0.6% to 0.1%, decreasing the documentary stamp taxes (DST) on original issuance of shares from 1% to 0.75%, and removing the DST on collective investment schemes. It also imposes a uniform 0.75% DST on bonds, debentures, and certificates of stock or indebtedness issued in foreign countries, regardless of jurisdiction, which the government said reinforces neutrality in the tax system. 'These measures are seen to cut transaction costs, encourage market participation and financial planning, boost market liquidity, make the country's equities market regionally competitive, and increase capital market growth,' the DOF said. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael Ricafort said the CMEPA would help attract more large foreign and local investors with lower stock transactions tax/costs, vis-a-vis other ASEAN/Asian stock markets, as part of making our markets more cost competitive for transactions. 'More importantly, the CMEPA Law would help structurally attract more large scale foreign fund managers and better compete with other ASEAN/Asian markets in terms of reduced transaction costs/taxes, assuming all other factors are the same. Thus, IPOs (initial public offering) and other share sales would correspondingly increase with more stock market transactions/trading activities as incentivized by CMEPA Law,' Ricafort said. IBON's Africa, however, said ordinary low-income Filipinos could not be empowered by CMEPA's new tax structure which, he said, 'clearly also wants to drive money, including from ordinary lower-income families into capital markets.' 'Instead of pushing them to be investors in volatile capital markets and shifting risk to individuals, the government should give more attention to securing decent wages and basic incomes, pensions, and social protections,' Africa said. 'Reducing the stock transaction tax and documentary stamp tax will benefit high-volume large investors or brokers, but ordinary savers are not suddenly empowered by this. They are still burdened by unaffordable risk, lack of disposable income, and poor financial literacy. The DOF should stop thinking that Filipinos are all rich and that financial markets are somehow substitutes for social security systems,' he added. The DOF estimates CMEPA to generate P9.0-billion worth of revenues from 2025 to 2028, the end of the term of the current administration. It is expected to raise P500 million this year; P1.6 billion in 2026; P2.8 billion in 2027; and P4.1 billion in 2028. The government is looking to generate P4.520 trillion in 2025 and P4.983 trillion in 2026 based on the latest report of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). — BAP, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
17-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
20% tax on interest income corrects ‘inequitable' system, says DOF
Banks this month started to implement the uniform 20% final withholding tax (FWT) on interest income, regardless of the term or currency denomination, in line with the passage of the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA), signed into law by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. The measure has gained public attention, perhaps due to confusion as several online posts have circulated online that it imposes a 20% tax on total savings or bank deposits. In a statement, the Department of Finance clarified that only the interest earned from a depositor's savings in a bank is taxed 20%, and not the amount of savings itself. 'Huwag maniwala sa fake news. Maging mapanuri sa mga articles at posts na kumakalat online na ginawa para magpakalat ng maling impormasyon,' the DOF said. (Do not believe fake news. Be critical of articles and posts circulating online that were made to spread false information.) Under CMEPA or Republic Act 122141 signed into law in May, all interest income deposited in banks are charged a 20% withholding tax, which local banks started to implement on July 1, 2025. 'A final tax of 20% is hereby imposed upon the amount of interest yield, or other monetary benefit earned or received from any currency bank deposit, deposit substitute, trust fund, or other similar arrangements,' Section 6 of the measure reads. The passage of CMEPA brought about amendments to several provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code, as it sought to 'harmonize' and simplify taxation of passive income across financial instruments and encourage wider public participation in the country's capital markets. Prior to the uniform rate, taxes were tiered and based on the maturity or lock-in periods — 20% for those less than three years; 12% for three years to less than four years; 5% for four years to less than five years; exemptions for more than five years; and 15% for foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) or dollars. 'The CMEPA merely corrects this outdated and inequitable system that placed a heavier burden on ordinary Filipinos who do not have the extra cash to put in banks for longer periods,' the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement released Thursday. Citing estimates from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the DOF said 99.6% of total deposits were already subject to the 20% tax rate, while 0.4% enjoyed preferential rates. 'This special tax treatment favored depositors who can afford to park their savings in long-term deposits, making the tax unfair for short-term depositors who face liquidity issues and need immediate access to their funds,' the DOF said. The finance department also clarified that the 20% rate will only be imposed on the interests earned, and not on the total savings or bank deposits. 'Hindi binubuwisan ang kabuuang halaga ng perang naka-deposito sa bangko. Sa halip, ang interes lamang na kinikita nito ang binubuwisan (The total amount deposited in banks is not taxed. Instead, only the interest earned is taxed),' it said in a separate post on its Facebook account. The DOF also clarified that the unified rate does not apply to provident savings programs under the Social Security System (SSS) and the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG such as the MP2, which are exempt from tax. Capital markets With the measure, the DOF is optimistic that more individuals will look to the capital markets, as it also reduced the stock transaction tax (STT) rate to 0.1% from 0.6% previously, and the documentary stamp taxes (DST) on original issuance of shares to 0.75% from 1%. It likewise removed the DST on collective investment schemes. It also imposes a uniform 0.75% DST on bonds, debentures, and certificates of stock or indebtedness issued in foreign countries, regardless of jurisdiction, which the government said reinforces neutrality in the tax system. 'These measures are seen to cut transaction costs, encourage market participation and financial planning, boost market liquidity, make the country's equities market regionally competitive, and increase capital market growth,' it said. CMEPA also provides an additional 50% tax deduction to the actual contributions of employers who contribute an amount equal to or greater than their employees' contributions to Personal Equity and Retirement Accounts (PERA). The DOF estimates CMEPA to generate P9.0-billion worth of revenues from 2025 to 2028, the end of the term of the current administration. It is expected to raise P500 million this year; P1.6 billion in 2026; P2.8 billion in 2027; and P4.1 billion in 2028. The government is looking to generate P4.520 trillion in 2025 and P4.983 trillion in 2026 based on the latest report of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). — BM, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
01-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Marcos to SEC: Remove bureaucratic bottlenecks in capital markets promotion law
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Tuesday tasked the Securities and Exchange Commission to streamline the process of implementing the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act or CMEPA, which redefines how Filipinos make investments. In his speech at the Philippine Stock Exchange during the special bell-ringing to mark the effectivity of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 12214 or the CMEPA, Marcos said that before the law was enacted, investing in stocks meant paying a tax of 0.6%, which was six times higher than Singapore and Malaysia, and certainly the highest in the ASEAN region. Under CMEPA, that rate has been reduced to 0.1%, according to the President. 'To ensure the successful implementation of this reform, I direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to streamline its procedures, remove bureaucratic bottlenecks, [and] reduce transaction costs within its control. Undertake the necessary changes to fulfill your responsibilities in these changing times,' Marcos said. According to Marcos, the law enhances the Philippines' competitiveness in the ASEAN region as it also strengthens the foundations of the capital market. He also emphasized that market integrity is a shared responsibility, calling on all market participants and stakeholders to uphold transparency, fairness, and good governance. Marcos said CMEPA has removed certain exemptions to enhance fairness in the country's tax system. He noted that government-owned or controlled corporations are now subjected to the same passive income taxes as other institutions. Marcos also said that the new law is projected to generate over P25 billion in net revenue until 2030, which is a substantial amount that is seen to help fund the building of roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, and other social safety net programs. He said the new law would not just benefit the well-off, stock traders, and the professionals. 'It is for every Filipino who dreams of better financial security. It empowers the small business owner, the young professional, and the overseas Filipino worker to start investing their hard-earned money to build a better future,' Marcos said. —KG, GMA Integrated News
