Choosing between PEZA and BOI registration is one of the most consequential decisions a foreign founder makes in the Philippines — and getting it wrong can lock you into the wrong location, the wrong tax base, or a delayed approval. Chamberlain registers your company with the right investment promotion agency and structures your incentives so you keep more of what you earn. This is a done-for-you service, not a comparison you have to navigate alone.
What PEZA and BOI registration give you
Both agencies grant access to the headline fiscal incentives under the CREATE MORE Act (RA 12066): an Income Tax Holiday (ITH) of several years, followed by your choice of a 5% Special Corporate Income Tax (SCIT) on gross income or Enhanced Deductions. Both also unlock duty exemptions on capital equipment and VAT relief tied to your registered activity. The difference is operational. PEZA requires you to locate inside an accredited ecozone or IT park. BOI is location-flexible and oriented toward activities on the government’s preferred list — so you can operate from a standard commercial office anywhere in the country.
Who qualifies
Eligibility turns on three factors we assess for every client:
- Export percentage — PEZA is built around export enterprises; a high share of revenue from outside the Philippines points toward PEZA.
- Location — if your business needs a specific address, a provincial base, or premises that simply cannot sit in a zone, BOI is usually the only workable path.
- Activity — your line of business must appear on the current Strategic Investment Priority Plan to draw incentives at all, and the tier it falls into shapes how long your ITH runs.
How Chamberlain assesses the right scheme for you
We don’t start from the paperwork — we start from your business model. Chamberlain maps your projected export ratio, your premises requirements, and your activity against the live SIPP, then runs the 5% SCIT versus Enhanced Deductions math against your actual margins. High-margin service businesses often favour SCIT; input-heavy operations often do better on Enhanced Deductions. You receive a clear recommendation with the reasoning, not a menu to puzzle over. If you want the neutral background first, see our full PEZA vs BOI comparison before we talk.
The registration process we run
Once the scheme is chosen, Chamberlain runs the end-to-end registration: confirming your activity against the SIPP, securing compliant premises (an accredited ecozone or IT park for PEZA, a suitable commercial office for BOI), preparing and lodging the application, responding to agency queries, and carrying it through to your certificate of registration. You stay focused on launching; we handle the agency.
Optimizing your incentives under CREATE MORE
Registration is only half the value. The election you make under CREATE MORE — 5% SCIT or Enhanced Deductions after your ITH expires — determines your effective tax rate for years. Chamberlain structures this deliberately, modelling both regimes against your cost base so the choice is evidence-led. We also keep your registration compliant so the incentives you won don’t lapse. For deeper detail on the regime, see our guide to CREATE MORE tax incentives and the longer CREATE MORE explainer.
Why picking the wrong scheme costs you
Register under PEZA when your business needs a non-zone address and you may have to relocate or forfeit incentives. Default to the wrong post-ITH election and you can overpay tax for the life of the registration. Miss the SIPP fit and the application stalls. Chamberlain exists to take these decisions off your plate — assessing eligibility, registering you correctly, and optimizing the incentives so the structure works from day one. For the scheme-specific detail, see our pages on PEZA registration and incentives and BOI registration and incentives.
Ready to register the right way? Talk to Chamberlain and we’ll assess your activity, recommend PEZA or BOI, and run the registration end to end.
Frequently asked questions
Can you register my company with PEZA?
Yes. Chamberlain handles the full PEZA registration — confirming your activity qualifies, securing premises inside an accredited ecozone or IT park, preparing the application, and seeing it through approval. We do the same for BOI when that path fits your business better.
How do you decide PEZA vs BOI for my business?
We assess three things: your export percentage, where you need to operate, and whether your activity sits on the current Strategic Investment Priority Plan. Export-focused companies that can sit in an ecozone usually go PEZA; location-flexible or preferred-activity projects usually go BOI. We run the numbers and recommend one.
Will you optimize my incentives, or just file the paperwork?
Both. Under CREATE MORE (RA 12066) you choose between the 5% Special Corporate Income Tax and Enhanced Deductions after your Income Tax Holiday. Chamberlain models both against your cost structure so you elect the option that actually lowers your tax — not just whichever is the default.
Can a single company use both PEZA and BOI?
A single registered activity sits with one agency at a time, but a group with distinct projects can register them separately under whichever agency suits each. We map your activities and structure the registrations so each one lands in the right place.