MANILA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines enacted a new law on Thursday restructuring the fiscal regime for large-scale metallic mining, aiming to boost government revenues, ensure transparency, and provide greater benefits to local communities.
Republic Act 12253, or the Enhanced Fiscal Regime for Large-Scale Metallic Mining Act, replaces the country's complex tax framework with a unified system that applies to all large-scale metallic mining operations.
The law introduces a margin-based royalty and windfall profits tax, along with safeguards such as debt-to-equity limits and project-based accounting to prevent tax avoidance. It also mandates stricter monitoring of mineral sales, public disclosure of mining data, and a multi-stakeholder accountability mechanism.
According to the Department of Finance, the new regime is expected to generate an average annual incremental revenue of 6.26 billion pesos (about 110 million U.S. dollars) for existing mines.
Officials said a share of the revenues will go to local governments and to fund mineral exploration, research, and stricter enforcement in the mining sector. ■