The Philippine Economic Zone Authority is a government agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry, tasked with registering and regulating “locator” companies operating inside designated special economic zones and IT parks — historically a major draw for the IT-BPO industry (call centers, software development, animation, and other IT-enabled services).

A PEZA-registered company can receive an Income Tax Holiday of four to seven years depending on project classification, followed by a 5% Special Corporate Income Tax on gross income in place of most national and local taxes, VAT zero-rating on local purchases, and duty-free importation of equipment. Foreign-owned BPOs must meet minimum paid-up capital thresholds ($100,000 with at least 50 Filipino employees, or $200,000 otherwise) and must physically operate inside a PEZA-accredited zone or building.

Under the Innovative Startup Act (RA 11337), PEZA has an additional, newer mandate: working with DTI, DOST, and DICT to establish dedicated Startup Ecozones specifically for registered startups.

🇵🇭 Philippine Example

PEZA's mandate under RA 11337 to create dedicated Startup Ecozones is a real, legally specified extension of its decades-old IT-park incentive model — applying the same tax-holiday-plus-5%-SCIT structure that built the Philippine BPO industry to registered startups specifically.

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