More medicines for hypertension, diabetes, and cancer have been exempted from value-added tax (VAT), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) announced.

The VAT exemption from the current 12 percent also applies to medicines for high cholesterol, dialysis, and mental illness.

The wider implementation supports the goals of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, and the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.

“The tax system should never be a barrier to good health, and no Filipino should have to choose between their health and their daily sustenance,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said.

Diabetic patients can now purchase more affordable Metformin Hydrochloride + Teneligliptin.

Other VAT-exempt diabetes medicines include Gemigliptin + Metformin Hydrocholoride, Sitagliptin + Metformin Hydrocholoride, and Sitagliptin Phosphate + Metformin Hydrocholoride.

Hypertension medicines with such tax exemption now include Amlopidine and Amlopidine + Atorvastatin.

For high cholesterol, the government removed VAT on Atorvastatin + Fenobribrate and Metoprolol tartrate + Ivabradine.

The VAT exemption also benefits cancer patients who take Tegafur + Gimeracil + Oteracil Potassium.

"This VAT exemption is the government’s way of making life-saving and life-sustaining medicines more accessible to all," Lumagui said.

For mental illness, VAT-exempt medicines now include Risperidone and Lamotrigine.

The updated list of VAT-exempt medicines can be viewed on the websites of the Food and Drug Authority and the Department of Health.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, health care spending contributes over 5 percent to the national gross domestic product.

The expanded list of VAT-exempt medicines followed reports by the national statistician which showed health care spending per capita increased to P11,083.50 in 2023 from P10,238 in 2022. This was an increase of 8.3 percent between those years, reversing from a decline of 2.8 percent between 2021 and 2022.