House panel OKs bill imposing P20 excise tax on plastic bags

MANILA – A House of Representatives’ panel on Monday approved a measure seeking to impose a PHP20 excise tax per kilo of single-use plastic bags.

The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, approved the committee report on the substituted bill to House Bill 178, which seeks to add a new section designated as Section 150-C of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

Under the new section, an excise tax in the amount of PHP20 shall be imposed for every kilogram of plastic bag removed from the place of production or released from the custody of the Bureau of Customs shall be imposed.

The bill defines the plastic bag as secondary level plastics made of synthetic or semisynthetic organic polymer, commonly known as “labo” or “sando” bags, with or without handle, used as packaging for goods or products.

Salceda said the proposed excise tax would yield some PHP4.8 billion on its first year of implementation.

He said the revenue to be collected from the additional tax would help fund the government’s solid waste management programs under Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

The revenues would be used for the implementation of the solid waste management plans of local government units, including the acquisition of land for the construction and operation of sanitary landfills.