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TUESDAI SEPTEI'IBER t7, 2019

Senate to go through corporate tax

reform with a'fine-toothed comb'
THE f4EASURE that willreduce the cor-
porate inc0me tax rate to 20a/o by 2029
from 30% currently and overhaitfiscal
incentives willg0 through a "fine-
toothed comb" in the Senate, Majority
Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubirisaid 0n
M0nday, following the bill's approval
in the House of Representatives late
last week.
"We willqo throuqh it with a fine-
toothedcomb. lt's going to be different
from tlie House 0f Representatives,
where it's a numbers qame. Here, each
and every one of the senators willhave
to look into these provisions," l4r. Zubiri
told reporters.
The House of Representatives ol FrF
day appr0ved on third and final reading
House Bill No.4l5Z or the "Corporate
lncomeTaxand lnrentives Rationaliza-
tion Act (ClTlRA)." The billforms part of
the administration's comprehensive tax
reform proqram (CTRP).
I'lr. Zubirisaid that amendments
eyed by theSenate includes ext€nding
th€ "sunset" period for all incentives by
Tax, S1/4

lrx,
from S]/ I

five to seven yearsas opposed t0 the incentives, atthe same time revenue for
two to five years provided under the government and income generated by
House version. other industries because ofthe lowering
He also said the senate plans to of the income tax from 30a/" Io 2Oo/.."
increase the gross income earned (GlE) The Senate Ways and l"leans com-
rate t0 seven percent from the current mittee begins on Tuesday tackling
five percent. the second CTRP package which is
'Asfar as I'm con(erned we willpush the proposed ClTlRA, and expects to .

for a longer time for transition berause, concl!de cQlnFittee deliberation on

apparently, th€ House mentioned
only between two to five years. We're
going to push between five to seven
years, a longer transition period which.
is requested by different chambers
of commerce," Mr Zubirisaid, citinq
among others the Eiropean Chamber of
commerce of the Philippine, Japanese
Chamber of Commerce and lndustry of
the Philippines and the American cham-
ber of Commerc€ ofthe Philippines.
"We?e also looklng at raising the
gross tax payment from five percent to
seven percent."
The House bill provided a two-year
transition period for locators akeady
enjoying the five percent GIE for over 10
years, three yearsfor those who have
availed it forfive to'10 years and tive
years for those below five years,
"Let'sjust review first what's
mentioned in the ClTlRA. Wele having
a few hearings on the CITIRA thisw€ek.
f4aybe after those hearings, we can be
clarified 0n whatwerethe issues, what
were taken out, and what w€re leit
behind," he said.
''We have to shike a balance
between companies that may leave
the country due to the loss of these
package two-plus, which will increase
excise tax rates on alcohol products and
e-cigarettes.
0ther remaining CTRP packages
include proposals to provide a single
frameworkfor real propertyvaluation
and assessment and to simplify the
tax structure for financial investment
instruments, which were all among
the measures mentioned by President
Rodrigo R. Duterte in his July 22 fourth
State of the Nation Address.
The government has so far enacted
Republic Act No.'10963, which slashed
personalincome tax rates and increased
oradded levies on severalq00ds and
services; RA 112'13, the Tax Amnesty
Act, whirh grants estate tax amnesty
and amnesty on delinquent accounts
left unpaid even after beins siven final
assessment;and RA 11346, which will
gradually increase excise tax on tobacco
products to P60 per pack by 2023 from
P35 currently. - Charmaine A. Tadalan
t goodT PAG€,|