{"id":60774,"date":"2015-09-05T22:40:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T14:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=60774"},"modified":"2015-09-05T22:40:29","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T14:40:29","slug":"house-opposes-vat-increase-claims-working-class-will-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/09\/05\/house-opposes-vat-increase-claims-working-class-will-suffer\/","title":{"rendered":"House opposes VAT increase, claims working class will suffer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Plenary Hall, House of Representatives Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
(Photo by Malaca\u00f1ang Photo Bureau\/Robert Vi\u00f1as)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA \u2013 The House of Representatives yesterday opposed the Malaca\u00f1ang Palace\u2019 proposal to increase the value-added tax (VAT) and criticized its refusal to cut income taxes.<\/p>\n

Several lawmakers instead urged the Aquino administration to \u2018show compassion\u2019 towards the middle-class and the poor who would likely suffer the proposed increase from 12 to 14 percent VAT.<\/p>\n

\u201cMagpakita naman sila ng malasakit (they should show compassion). It is Malaca\u00f1ang that should see the bigger picture,\u201d Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rich would not mind a two-percentage-point increase in VAT. It is the middle class, employees and the poor who will suffer,\u201d Isabela Representative Rodolfo Albano lll said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasing VAT to 14 percent will be an added burden to the working class, especially to the poor, which comprises the bigger chunk of society since it will mean corresponding increases in the cost of goods and services,\u201d Pasig Representative Roman Romulo added.<\/p>\n

The House instead considered passing bills that would modernize the tax collection system, scrap tax incentives and impose tax on soft drinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have trust in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Commissioner Kim Henares. They have been improving their collections every year. It is the Bureau of Customs that is wanting in performance, but I know that Commissioner Alberto Lina is doing his best to improve it,\u201d Albano said.<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers also asked if there was a need to increase VAT.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is clearly something wrong if despite having the highest tax rates in the ASEAN region, the Philippines has one of the lowest tax collection efficiency,\u201d Marikina Representative Miro Quimbo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the DOF (Department of Finance) and BIR should really look at the numbers and not just see this as plus and minus thing\u2026\u00a0 Increasing the VAT will hit even those exempt from income taxes, that makes it a cruel proposal,\u201d Valenzuela City Representative Sherwin Gatchalian said.<\/p>\n

The Malaca\u00f1ang, for its part, welcomed improving tax collection instead of changing tax rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to Commissioner Henares, government is not proposing higher VAT rates. We are for status quo,\u201d Communications Secretary Herminio \u201cSonny\u201d Coloma Jr. said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo change in tax rates, and no new or higher taxes, and also no income tax cuts. Government will just focus on improving collection,\u201d Coloma added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA \u2013 The House of Representatives yesterday opposed the Malaca\u00f1ang Palace\u2019 proposal to increase the value-added tax (VAT) and criticized …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":56543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-60774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-rewrite","mauthors-cyra-moraleda","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}