Thursday, January 16, 2020
B-4 nAllll.AsBUttETlIl
system seen with'sin' tax
By CHIN0 S. LtYc(l
FFI he DeDartmenr of Finance
I I ltoori vesterdav that
".id
I ine ioneress. uppiovea
I 'isin" tai law on alcohol
and alternative cigarettes would
usher in the country's world-
class healthcare system for all
Filipinos.
' Finance Secretary Carlos G.
Dominguez III said the passage of
the still unsigned sin tax law will
not only deter smoking and binge
drinkingl but will also augr4ent
funding for the cash - intensive
universal health care (UHC) pro-
gram that will primarily benefit
low-income families. '
According to Dominguez, the
Duterte administration wants to
implement the UHC program as
a "first-class law at par with the
world's best healthcare systems, "
which is now requiring P1-44, tril-
lion in the next five years.
' Based on government esti-
mates, UHC requires at least P257
billion this year alone and the
annual funding need wiU grow by
an average of around Prr billion
to P12 biuion between 2o2o and
2o2tt.
To recall, a bill imposing higher
excise taxes on alcohol products,
and an increase in the taxrates for
e-cigarettes, such as heated to-
bacco products and vapor Products
was approved by the congress and
is now up for President Duterte's
signature-
This new 'sin' tax measure
comprises Package 2-plus of
the comprehensive tax-reform
program (CTRP), which seeks to
make Philippine taxadon fair and
transparent even as it provides
a steady revenue stream for the
government.
(All the hard work we put in to
reform our policies and build an
inclusive economy have resulted
in a palpable improvement in the
lives of our people," Dominguez
said in a statement.
Tobacco excise taxes were first
raised under the Duterte admin-
istration through the Tax Reform
for Acceleration and Inclusion Act
(TRAIN), which has so far raised
P91.3 billion in revenues in the
first nine months of zorg'
"All the irard work we put in to
reform our policies and build an
inclusive economy have resulted
in a palpable improvement in the
Business llews
lives of our people," Dominguez
said.
Aside from TRAIN, President
Duterte also signed into law Re-
public Act (RA) 11346, which
raised the excise tax on tobacco
products to P45 per pack begin-
ning in 2o2o, followed by a series
of P5-per-pack increases until the '
rate reaches ?60 it 2023.
RA [346 also includes a provi-
sion taxing e-cigarettes by at least
Pro per millimeter for e-juices
with high nicotine concentrations,
also known as nicotine salt.
But under the bill up for the
President's signature, this mini-
mal rate has since increased to be
closer to that of cigarettes based
on comparative consumpdon pat-
terns.
"We are the only administra-
tion that actually cleaned up the
cigarette industry and raised to-
bacco excise taxes twice. This has
never happened in any past ad-
ministration," Dominguez said.
While raising funds for hu-
man capital development through
higher "sin" taxes took center
stage in 2019, significant progress
was also made in the rest of the
CTRP packages.
P4ae u'-Q