LAST Dec. 9, 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act (RA) 12079, also known as the Act Creating a Value-Added Tax (VAT) Refund Mechanism for Non-Resident Tourists. The law introduced a new section (112-A) to the National Internal Revenue Code that provides a VAT refund incentive to tourists on locally purchased goods. For the purposes of this law, a "tourist" is defined as a non-resident foreign passport holder.
Marcos said the law was aimed at attracting more foreign travelers to visit the Philippines and positioning the country as a premier global shopping destination, allowing it to compete with other tourism markets. In relation to this, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, the author and sponsor of the measure in the Senate, said that increased tourist arrivals would create jobs across various tourism-related industries, including hospitality, transportation, travel and entertainment.
