House panel OKs comprehensive tax reform bill

Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook.com

MANILA 一 The House ways and means committee on Wednesday approved the comprehensive tax reform package, which seeks to lower personal income tax (PIT) rates while raising excise taxes on certain commodities.

Members of the House panel approved the unnumbered substitute bill with 17 votes on the affirmative, 4 negative, and 3 abstentions.

This after the technical working group submitted the draft of the bill to the mother committee for approval.

Under the bill, workers earning no more than PHP250,000 annually will be exempted from paying personal income taxes (PIT).

To compensate for the revenue losses from the lowering of the PIT rates, some of the offsetting measures include increasing excise tax rates on all petroleum products and automobiles; expanding the value added tax (VAT) base, among others.