MANILA, Philippines – More members of the House of Representatives are opposing President Duterte’s tax proposals, which Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez submitted to Congress last week.
Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay joined an increasing number of colleagues yesterday in questioning the administration’s so-called tax reform package.
He said the supposed tax reforms and other components of the administration’s economic agenda are not moving because of Duterte’s “preoccupation on his brutal anti-drug campaign.”
He said the proposed tax reform package “is anti-poor and anti-marginalized because, among others, it taxes holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift differential pay, hazard pay, and 13th-month pay received by low-income earners and repeals VAT (value added tax) exemption of people with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens.”
It would also impose a P10 excise tax on lubricating oils and greases, waxes and petrolatum, regular gasoline, leaded premium gasoline and aviation turbo jet fuel, and a P6 excise tax on processed gas, denatured alcohol, kerosene, diesel, LPG, asphalts, and bunker fuel, he said.
“Since the burden of excise taxes on petroleum products cascades to the ultimate consumer or the general public, the brunt of the tax is borne by ordinary people who constitute the bulk of the consuming public who will not benefit from the tax package,” he stressed.
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In a related development, Rep. Mikee Romero of party-list group 1-Pacman proposed yesterday the grant of a one-time tax amnesty to raise needed funds for the government.
Romero said his proposal could replace some of the controversial recommendations of the Department of Finance (DOF) like taxing workers’ 13th-month pay and Christmas bonus and removing the tax exemptions of senior citizens and persons with disability.
His proposed amnesty grant would cover the tax liabilities of individual and corporate taxpayers for 2015 and prior years.
Romero said the administration’s tax reform package includes the lowering of the personal and corporate tax rates.
However, he said the rate reduction would result in the loss of revenues, which in turn would hamper the implementation of President Duterte’s reform agenda.
He noted that the DOF-proposed tax reforms also include controversial measures.
He stressed that an amnesty grant is non-controversial but would achieve the same goal of increasing revenues, though it would be on a one-time basis.
It would complement some DOF measures, he said.
“A tax amnesty will certainly yield an immediate increase in tax collection and at the same time provide an opportunity to broaden our taxpayer base, as well as give delinquent taxpayers another chance to settle their obligations,” Romero said.
Under his proposal, a taxpayer availing himself of amnesty would file with the Bureau of Internal Revenue a tax return and a statement of assets, liabilities and net worth as of Dec. 31, 2015.
