Congress sets TRABAHO for interpellation

The amount will help sustain the country’s strong fiscal performance and aggressive government spending in the medium term

The House Committee on Ways and Means has endorsed House Bill 8083 or the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (TRABAHO) for second reading and plenary interpellation, said committee chairman Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua and House Committee on Appropriations chairman Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles.

The reading is set for when Congress resumes deliberations after a week-long break.

HB 8083 represents the second package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP). The first package, the Tax Reform Acceleration for Inclusion was approved in December last year.

All four CTRP packages were submitted by the Department of Finance (DoF) to Congress last month.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III expressed optimism Congress would approve the CTRP reform packages within the year before lawmakers are too busy preparing for the 2019 elections.

TRABAHO aims to lower the corporate income tax (CIT) and fix the flaws in the corporate tax system. Others in the CTRP include:

• Package 1B, which is the proposed tax amnesty program and adjustments in the Motor Vehicle Users Charge. This was submitted together with Package 1A or TRAIN in 2016 but was not approved;

• Package 2, which aims to lower the CIT rate and broaden the tax base by modernizing the investment tax incentives (Submitted on 16 January 2018);

• Package 2 plus, which proposes to increase the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products and increase the government’s share from mining. For the tobacco and alcohol tax, the Department of Finance adopted Senate Bill 1599 introduced by Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao. On the mining tax, the DoF endorsed House Bill 7951 filed by Rep. Estrellita Suansing;

• Package 3, which institutes reforms in property taxation to make the valuation system more equitable, efficient, and transparent (Submitted on 26 July 2018) and

• Package 4, which proposes to rationalize capital income taxation to address the multiple rates and different tax treatments and exemptions on capital income and other financial instruments (Submitted on 24 July 2018).

TRABAHO aims to lower the corporate income tax and fix the flaws in the corporate tax system.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) told members of the Senate and the House that at least P181.4 billion in tax revenues are expected to be collected from the ongoing tax reform and its second package, which will form part of the projected P3.2 trillion tax revenues for 2019.

The target translates to 16.5 percent of gross domestic product, marginally higher than the attained 15.6 percent in 2017.

The DBCC explained the amount will help sustain the country’s strong fiscal performance and aggressive government spending in the medium term.