Filipino taxpayers extended nearly a billion pesos in subsidies to real-estate firms in 2014, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the final results of the 2014 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) for the real-estate sector, tax exemptions and other perks of the sector reached P724.1 million in 2014.
However, this was a 25.42-percent reduction from the P970.9 million worth of subsidies extended to real-estate firms in 2013.
“Subsidies are grants received from the government in the form of financial assistance or tax exemption to aid and develop an industry,” the PSA said.
The subsidies extended to the sector went to two industries engaged in real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis and real-estate activities with own or leased property industry.
Of the two industries, those engaged in real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis received the bulk of the subsidies, which reached P566.3 million, while firms engaged in real- estate activities with own or leased property industry accounted for the remaining P157.8 million.
In terms of income, the real-estate sector generated P497.5 billion in 2014. About 79 percent of the gross income was contributed by establishments with a total employment of 20 and over amounting to P389.8 billion.
Real-estate activities with own or leased property contributed the major share of 94.2 percent amounting to P468.8 billion, while real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis accounted for a mere 5.8 percent, or P28.6 billion.
In terms of expense, the sector spent P316.3 billion in 2014. The bulk of the expense was made by real-estate activities with own or leased property.
“Being the major contributor in income, real-estate activities with own or leased property also had the largest share in expense of P290.5 billion, [or] 91.9 percent,” the PSA said.
The remaining expense was made by real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis, which accounted for P25.8 billion, or 8.1 percent, of the total.
In 2014 there were a total of 4,862 establishments in the formal sector of the economy were engaged in real-estate activities.
The majority, or 89.6 percent, or 4,358 establishments had a total employment of less than 20. The remaining 504 establishments, or 10.4 percent, were with total employment of 20 and over.
Real-estate activities with own or leased property had the highest number of establishments with 4,240 establishments, or 87.2 percent, while the rest of the firms were involved in real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis.