Solon withdraws co-authorship on Duterte’s new tax reform bill

By MART D. SAMBALUD
Davao Today

DAVAO City — Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate withdrew his co-authorship of the tax reform package bill under the Duterte administration that seeks to lower income tax rates but imposes oil excise taxes.

“This representation would like to withdraw his co-authorship of House Bill 5636, mainly because said consolidated bill, we submit, is not in consonance with the intentions that we sought when we filed House Bill 333,” Zarate said in his letter to Majority Leader and rules committee chairperson Rudy Fariñas and copy furnished to ways and means committee chairperson Rep. Dakila Cua.

Zarate explained that HB 333, one of the bills consolidated in HB 5636, veered away from its intent to become a progressive system of taxation that would supposedly alleviate the plight of the people who have been overtaxed, yet underpaid.

“This representation believes that a progressive taxation system would have the country’s oligarchs and the elite pay more so that our underpaid people would at least maximize the benefit of what already is subsistence income for them,” he said.

The Davao-based solon slammed the government’s move to increase the excise taxes as well as to expand the value added tax base.

“[W]ith the consolidated HB 5636, our underpaid yet already overtaxed majority would even be burdened by higher prices of basic goods and services. The so-called ‘complementary reforms’ tied with the restructured income brackets, like the increase in excise taxes and the expansion of VAT bases, have ironically only made the poor pay more,” Zarate said.

“HB 5636 is really a burden to the people. Aside from the new taxes that it will impose, rentals lower that P10, 000 will no longer be VAT exempted. This means that a 12 percent VAT will be imposed for rentals,” Zarate said.

“Meanwhile, rich individuals and corporations expect expanded tax exemption schemes, with investment tax expenditures projected to increase year by year. Yet, these are the same taxpayers who are callous enough to pass on to consumers their respective corporate income taxes, like water concessionaries Maynilad and Manila Water,” he added.

The recent government’s comprehensive tax reform package, according to Zarate, “is not reflective of such an aspiration” for a “pro-people and genuine progressive system of taxation.” (davaotoday.com)