Starting a business in Philippines: foreigner's guide (2026)

SEC Memorandum Circular No. 3, Series of 2025 required all corporations to use the SEC ZERO system starting 7 April 2025, eliminating wet signatures and physical notarization through the electronic authentication portal (eSAP). This makes end-to-end incorporation in the Philippines completely paperless and available 24/7.

President Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12066 (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy), extending special corporate income tax incentive periods to up to 27 years, raising the investment approval threshold for Investment Promotion Agencies from PHP 1 billion to PHP 15 billion, and mandating a 20-working-day turnaround for incentive applications. The law also broadened VAT incentives and introduced work-from-home flexibility without loss of economic-zone tax benefits.

President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11647 amending the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, lowering the capital threshold that reserves enterprises for Filipino nationals from USD 200,000 to USD 100,000 for high-technology or startup-endorsed foreign businesses, and creating the Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee (IIPCC) to centralize investment promotion. This opened previously restricted sectors to foreign entrants and aligned FDI rules with post-pandemic recovery goals.

President Duterte signed the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, cutting the corporate income tax rate from 30% to 25% (20% for SMEs), making it the largest fiscal stimulus for Philippine businesses in recent history and estimated to deliver PHP 1 trillion in private-sector tax relief over ten years. The law also rationalized and time-bound fiscal incentives to attract both domestic and foreign investment.

Signed by President Duterte and taking effect on 6 August 2019, the Innovative Startup Act designated DOST, DTI, and DICT as lead agencies to build the Philippine startup ecosystem, created the Startup Grant Fund and Startup Venture Fund, provided fee subsidies for registration, and authorized startup visas (owner, employee, investor) for foreign participants. It also reduced the foreign equity capital threshold for startup-endorsed enterprises.

Republic Act No. 11232 replaced the 1980 Corporation Code, introducing One Person Corporations (OPCs) allowing a single natural person to incorporate, abolishing the minimum paid-up capital requirement for stock corporations, granting corporations perpetual existence by default, and mandating an SEC online filing and monitoring system. These reforms directly reduced barriers to entry for entrepreneurs and modernized the legal framework underpinning all Philippine businesses.

Republic Act No. 11032 amended the 2007 Anti-Red Tape Act, mandating simplified and time-bound government service delivery (3 days for simple, 7 for complex, 20 for highly technical transactions), creating the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) as the central enforcement body, and requiring all government agencies to adopt a unified Business One Stop Shop. It became the legal backbone for the SEC, DTI, and LGU registration streamlining reforms that followed.

The original Corporation Code of the Philippines established the legal requirements for incorporating a stock or non-stock corporation, requiring a minimum of five incorporators, minimum subscribed and paid-up capital, and SEC registration — a framework that remained unchanged for 39 years. Its rigidity, including high capital thresholds and manual paper-based registration, would later motivate the sweeping 2018–2019 reform wave.