July 28th, 2021
House tax panel reconvenes for the first meeting in the final regular session; House tax chief thanks Speaker, colleagues for enthusiastic contributions in crafting fiscal solutions amidst a pandemic
House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district) thanked Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco for promoting reforms that he wrote such as fiscal incentives system, alcohol excise taxes, CREATE law, Ease of Paying Taxes, customs reform, and for identifying committee’s original creation such as POGO and e-sabong tax regimes, and the pension reform for the Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) as part of the House priorities.
Salceda also thanked colleagues for their hardwork in the past months and encouraged them to do even more to address challenges that the nation is currently facing.
“I am very fortunate to have all of you, as enthusiastic contributors of ideas and solutions. You know well that arguments can sometimes get heated in this Committee. But that is because the work that we do is worth debating eagerly over. We have a very important mandate, and I am thankful for all your help in dispensing it,” Salceda said.
Salceda also emphasized that the tax panel will be approving upcoming measures, including one that provides proprietary schools a 90% discount on their taxes.
“We performed above and beyond what we were asked to do. We approved the entire comprehensive tax reform program in 2019. But we did more. The POGO taxes that this Congress is set to send to President Duterte’s desk, and the taxes on offsite betting on cockfighting, are original compositions of this Committee. Ease of Paying Taxes, the Speaker’s priority, is an original work of this Committee,” Salceda said
“The clarificatory tax regimes of private schools and local exporters, which they view as a lifeline in this pandemic, were written by the Committee. I am proud to say that we initiated the finding of solutions to the concerns of our stakeholders on these areas. On the tax regime for proprietary schools, we are prepared to approve a substitute bill that will allow them to take advantage of their 90% tax discount under CREATE, from 10% to 1%.”
“We have also secured the suspension of Revenue Regulation 9-2021, which imposes 12% VAT on certain local inputs to exports, subject to VAT refund. We are working with the tax agencies to resolve the situation by law. And every week, almost without fail, we meet to find new fiscal solutions to this country’s problems,” Salceda remarked
Tax panel approves measures on legal education board, framework for energy policy, motor vehicle industry and creative industry bills
In today’s meeting, the Committee approved the tax provisions of the Unnumbered Substitute Bill to House Bill No. 2836 with amendments, seeking to strengthen the Legal Education Board.
It has also approved the tax provisions embodied under Sections 23 and 28 without amendment, and the tax provisions under Sections 72 and 73, with amendment, of the Unnumbered Substitute Bill to House Bills No. 5581, 6153, 6160, 6221, 6258, 6265, 6267, 6289, 6304, 6488, 6544, 6681, 7240, 2282 and 2349, seeking to effectively streamline adoption procedures and make formal adoption accessible.
Furthermore, the Committee approved the tax provision of the Unnumbered Substitute Bill to House Bills Nos. 444, 738, 1432, 2020, 4075, 4179, 4356, 4366, 4391, 4962, 6604, 7298, 7299, 7317 and 7607 providing the national energy policy and regulatory framework for the use of electric vehicles and the development of the electric vehicles industry.
To accelerate competitiveness and development of the Philippine motor vehicle manufacturing industry, the House tax panel approved the Unnumbered Substitute Bill to House Bill No. 1833 subject to amendments.
Lastly, with the common vision to promote tourism through the creative industry and performing arts, the Committee approved the tax provisions of the Unnumbered Substitute Bill to House Bills No. 1255, 3630, and 7634.