To boost tourist spending, Philippines to refund VAT starting in 2024

Robert Besser
01 Feb 2023, 17 GMT+10

In an effort to attract more tourists, President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax refund program for foreign tourists beginning in 2024
A 12 percent VAT is currently imposed on goods consumed within the country, but foreigners will be able to receive a tax refund on items they are taking out of the Philippines
In a statement, the president's office said that the rebate proposal was presented by a private sector advisory council to Marcos to boost the tourism industry

MANILA, Philippines: In an effort to attract more tourists, President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax refund program for foreign tourists beginning in 2024.

A 12 percent VAT is currently imposed on goods consumed within the country, but similar to what many other countries offer, foreigners will be able to receive a tax refund on items they are taking out of the Philippines.

In a statement, the president's office said that the rebate proposal was presented by a private sector advisory council to Marcos to boost the tourism industry, while other suggestions included improving airport infrastructure and operations and promoting tourism investment.

The launch of an online visa this year for Chinese, Indian, South Korean and Japanese tourists was also approved by Marcos, it added.

According to the Department of Tourism, in 2022 the Philippines was visited by 2.65 million international tourists who spent some $3.68 billion, exceeding the government's 2022 target of 1.7 million tourists.

Out of last year's total figure, there were 2.02 million foreign nationals arriving in the Philippines, along with 628,445 Filipinos based abroad, compared to only 163,879 tourists recorded in 2021, but still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic level of 8.26 million per year.

This year, the Philippine government seeks to attract 4.8 million tourists.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Travel Trade.

More Information

30 ℃

Mostly Cloudy in Seletar

Business

Section

Techs jump in widespread U.S. stock markets advance

NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street continued its advance on Tuesday as investors continued to weigh up the health ...

US says citizens not to buy meds in Mexico, many contain fentanyl

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US State Department has issued a travel warning regarding dangerous fake pills sold at pharmacies in Mexico, ...

Mercedes modernizing EV plants in China, Germany, Hungary,

FRANKFURT, Germany: The German Automobilwoche magazine has reported that as part of its efforts to switch to selling electric vehicles ...

Banks rebound lifting U.S. stock markets, Nasdaq gains 45 points

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday following the weekend buy-in of Credit Suisse by UBS, which ...

US loans $300 billion to banks following closing of SVB bank

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Federal Reserve Bank has announced that cash-strapped banks throughout the US borrowed some $300 billion during ...

Deloitte agrees to pay $31 mln fine to China after mistakes in audit

BEIJING, China: Following the inability of China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd to release financial reporting obligations in 2020, China ...

Airlines

Section