- Senator Risa Hontiveros proposed a bill to reduce the VAT rate from 12 percent to 10 percent
- The reduction aims to alleviate the burden on the poor due to higher commodity prices caused by tax reforms
- The proposed VAT rate is still above the Southeast Asian average of 8 percent
- Hontiveros mentioned that the poor have been disproportionately affected by the VAT for over a decade
- The bill suggests maintaining exemptions for senior citizens, persons with disability, cooperatives, and socialized housing for the urban poor
- Economic zone exemptions should be reconsidered
- The VAT rate could potentially be reduced further to 8 percent by 2022
- Lowering the VAT rate is not expected to impact the government’s P8-trillion infrastructure program as new tax reforms are projected to generate P130 billion in revenues
Source: abs-cbn.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
