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THURSDAY, AUGUSI 22, 2OIg
Senate body sees alcohol
taxhike OKin3weeks
THE SENATE Ways and Means
committee expects to approve the
measure increasing excise tax on
alcohol products in two to three
weeks, its chairman Senator Pia
S. Cayetano said.
Ms. Cayetano cited difficulty in
approving remaining tax reforms
any time soon since.the chamber
is set to begin parallelhearings on
the P4.l-trillion national budget
for 2O2A in order to ensurb it is
signed into law by year'end.
"In terms of the pace of the
committee, ang goal is to have
hearings every week. I just want
to be sure that all the stakehold-
ers will be heard on record," Ms.
Cayetano said in a media forum in
Manila on Wednesday.
"Next weetc, I plan to continue
alcohol and then go to the e-ciga-
rettes and vapes,issue, siguro mga
two to three heari4gspa '!un."
Its counterpiri measu,re,
' House Bill
No. 1026;, principally
guthored by Albay 2"d District
-/nep. Jose'Ma. Clemente S. Sal-
ceda, bagged final approval in
the House of Representatives on
T\resday.
Asked whether.the excise tax
iricrease for alcohol products can
. hurdle both chambers by y€ar-
end, Ms. Cayetano said "medyo
mahirap'yun (that will be diffi-
. cult) only because we have the
budget."
"But kung sasabihin mo lang
naman na (if you focus only on)
alcohol products, eh di tapas na
alco (my committee can approve
that) in two weeks, tapos magko-
committee report cko," she said,
notingthatshe also serves asvice-
chairman of the finance'comniit-
tee that is in charge of budget
hearings.
The Departrirent of Budget
and Management transmitted the
proposed 2O2n National Expen-
diture Program to both chambers
on Tuesday. The House is set to
hold its first budget hearing on
Thursday, beginning with a brief-
ing by the Development Budget
Coordination Committee.
. The alcohol and e-cigarette
excise tax increase was among
the bills mentioned by President
Rodrigo R. Duterte'in his Jr;Jy 22
fourth State of the Nation Ad-
dress, along with the proposal
to cut the cqrporate income
tax to \OVo by 2029. frum $O%
currently,centralize real property
valuation and assessment, and
simplify the tax structure for fi-
nancial investment instruments.
Ms. Cayetano on Tuesday led
the initial deliberation of Sen-
ate Bill No. 383, filed by Senator
Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, which
adopted the proposal of the De-.
partment bf Finance and the.De-
partment of Health.
The Senate bill proposed to
increase the ad valorem tax rate
to 25Vo of the net retail price of
distilled spirits from the current
2OVo and the specific tax rate to
P4O per proof liter from 24.33 in
2O2O. The, specific tax rate will
increase by P5 annually until it
reaches P55 in 2023 and will in-
crease by lO% every year there-
after.
Alcohol S1/4
Alcohol,
fromst/1
The proposal is expected to
generate P33.3 billion in rev-
enues in the first year of imple-
mentation, double the P16.6 bil-
lion incremental revenue from
alcohol products expected under
the House version.
"If you ask me - am I inclined
to suppogt the position of DoF?
Well,I came from the committee
on health before and I'm always
at the front line receivingthe con-
cerns and complaints of ourkaba-
bayan,whoneed more health care
and I see it rnyself; so of course, I
want to raise more funds for it."
The House bill will increase
the ad valorem tax on distilled
spirits to 22Vo of the net retail
price per proof and a specific tax
of P35 per liter. The specific tax
rate will then increase by P5 every
year until it reaches P45 in 2022,
after which it will increase by
seven percent annually beginning
2i,A23.
- Charmaine A. Tadalan
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