Generous tax breaks await businesses partnering with the government on the enterprise-based education and training (EBET) of workers and students to reskill or upskill them on the evolving skills and competencies actually needed by employers, especially those in priority enterprises.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the authors of the recently signed EBET Framework Act, said: “Private companies that will take part in the government’s new EBET program, which aims to sharpen the competitiveness here and abroad of the Filipino labor force, can avail of huge income tax deductions—equivalent to 50 percent of their actual training expenses between now and end-2027, and a higher 75 percent beginning January 2028.”
“Businesses extending donations, subsidies or financial aid to TVIs (technical vocational institutions) offering EBET programs are exempted under RA 12063 from paying the donor’s tax, and shall be deductible from the gross income of the donor for that year,” he added.
To implement these tax incentives, he said, the law tasks the Department of Finance, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, and the Technical Skills and Development Authority to consult the relevant stakeholders on formulating the necessary rules and regulations, including the streamlining of processes to encourage enterprises to support and participate in EBET.
“It is only fitting that tax breaks and exemptions be given as a financial incentive to EBET-participating enterprises, as this novel program is designed to address a major factor behind our unemployment and underemployment woes, which is the nagging jobs-skills mismatch that prevents many of our workers and new graduates from getting hired or having jobs that actually suit them because they lack the skills or competencies needed by most employers,” Villafuerte said.
