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Rep. Junard Chan of the single district of Lapu-Lapu City has proposed taxing online gambling in order to raise funds for the income tax relief bill that is being proposed. This proposal was made by Rep. Chan during the House ways and means committee session held yesterday in connection with the raising of the personal income tax exemption level to P350,000.
Tax Relief And Revenue Gap
The plan to increase the personal income tax deduction annually up to P350,000 is based on an instruction given by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his fifth State of the Nation Address. According to the Department of Finance, the move might lead to the loss of revenues amounting to P60 billion each year.
In order to address the potential problem, the DOF has suggested increasing taxes on goods such as sweetened drinks, e-cigarettes, distilled liquor, and single-use plastics. Chan asked whether online gambling can also be used as a source of revenue since it is currently taxed.
He asked DOF fiscal policy and monitoring Undersecretary Karlo Fermin Adriano if the department had studied whether existing taxes on online gaming could be increased. Chan said that if one objective of higher taxes is to discourage activities with negative social consequences, online gaming would be an area worth closer review.
Adriano said the DOF is listening to proposals from Congress on the revenue-generating side and will study all suggestions.
Debate Over Sweetened Beverage Tax
Chan also questioned the proposal to add a P20-per-liter tax on sugar-sweetened drinks and a P40-per-liter tax on beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup. He said these products are no longer luxury items and are commonly bought by working Filipinos and middle-class families as part of their daily routine.
He asked whether increasing taxes on such products would also raise day-to-day expenses for the very people the income tax relief is meant to help. Adriano stated that there had been increased levels of obesity and chronic kidney disease due to the high intake of sugar.
The undersecretary admitted that sweetened beverages are regularly taken by most Filipinos, but they are harmful too. He further emphasized that the tax collected through the excise tax would go to fund the health care system, which was a win-win situation.
3-in-1 Coffee And Other Proposals
The Representative for the 1st District of Albay, Cielo Krisel Lagman, asked why 3-in-1 coffees continue to be excluded from the proposed excise tax when they have higher amounts of sugar than those recommended by the World Health Organization. Adriano stated that poor families use 3-in-1 coffee to fight off hunger.
Lagman replied that if the reason is that the poor consume the product to address hunger, they would also be the ones bearing the health consequences, and said the issue should be reconsidered. Adriano said the DOF is open to suggestions.
Kamanggagawa party-list Rep. Eli San Fernando raised other options, including raising the annual personal income tax exemption to P600,000 and adjusting the threshold based on inflation every 3 years. He also asked about measures to combat leakages in the Bureau of Customs and curb corruption to make up for lost revenue.
Adriano said the DOF fully supports reforms on curbing corruption, but maintained that revenue-generating measures are also necessary reforms.
Source: Inquirer.net
