I was back in Manila last week, after an absence of over 23 years from the Philippines, as part of a road trip throughout the ASEAN region to highlight the importance of estate and legacy planning.

A founding member of ASEAN, the Philippines is a middle-income ASEAN Member State but is considered a ‘tiger economy' due to strong growth.

Summary : Outsourcing is considered as one of the bright spots in the Philippine economy. It will be a major driver of growth for the next five years. The Philippine Government has enacted several policy directives to attract foreign investment in this area, including tax incentives, customs perks, and a favorable labor policy. Several of these tax and fiscal incentives are discussed in this article.

Under the Philippine's National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (the "Tax Code"), the term "corporation" includes partnerships, no matter how created or organized, joint-stock companies, joint accounts (cuentas en participation), associations, or insurance companies, but excluding general professional partnerships and a joint venture or consortium formed for the purpose of undertaking construction projects or engaging in petroleum, coal, geothermal and other energy operations pursuant t