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Flrsttaxreform
bill hurdles
House panel
THE House Committee on Ways
and Means on Tuesday approved
a bill increasing taxes on alcohol-
ic beverages, making it the first
tax reform measure to gain such
approval iirthe 18'h Congress.
House Bill 1026 filed by com-
mittee chair and Albay 2"d district
Rep. Jose Maria S. Salceda aims
to increase the excise tax rates
on alcoholic beverages products
with annual increases of 7Vo in
subsequent years.
The bill's progress was expe-
dited due to House Rule to, which
requires only one hearing for bills
approved on third reading in the
previous sitting of Co4gress.
"I invoke Rule 1O Sec. 48
of our rules and move that the
measure be disposed as of mat-
ter already reported," said Nueva
Ecija l't district Rep. Estrellita B.
Suansing who is the committee's
vice-chairperson.
The measure proposes in-
creased excise taxes on dis-
tilled spirits to 22% from 2OVo,
an ad valorem tax on the net
retail price (NRP) per proof
and a specific tax of P3O per
liter from P23.4O in 2019. The
specific tax rate will then be
increased by P5 every year, un-
til it reaches P45 in2O22, after
which it will increase by 77o
annually beginning 2029.
The measure will also levy on
sparklingwines a lSVo advalorern
tax per liter, which is not imposed
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WEDilESIIAI AUGUST 14, 2019
under the present system; in ad-
dition to a P65O specific tax Per
liter in z}2},which is to increase
byTVo annually.
Meanwhile, cooking wines
with salt content of not less than
1.5 grams for every IOO milliliters
are exempt from excise tax.
A similar bill was approved
on third and final reading by the
House in the 17th Congress, but it
did not make similar progrebs in
the Senate.
Cagayan de Oro 2"d district
Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez objected
to Ms. Suansing's motion, saylng
that legislators who were not part
of the 17th Congress should be
given the chance to reviewthe bill.
*It should be equitable to me
and other new members of this
. Congress who were not present in
the former deliberations"
.According to the data present-
ed by the Ways and Means Com-
mittee, the revenue estimates
for 2O2O of the 17th Congress ap-
proved version on alcohol taxes
is PI5.6 billion, along with PIO.3
billion in estimated revenue for
fermented liquors, P5.2 billion for
distilled spirits, and Ptoo million
forwines.
Recently, Finance Undersec-
retary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said
that the expected revenue from
raising taxes from alcoholic bev-
erages is P33 billion in the first
year of implementation. - Vince
Angelo C. Ferreras