Think tank to DOF: Tax the rich

instead
By: Kristine Angeli Sabillo
@KSabilloINQ
INQUIRER.net
03:56 PM September 28th, 2016

A local research group is urging the Duterte government to re-think its recently proposed tax
reform package and consider taxing the rich.
IBON Foundation, in a statement on Tuesday, described the Department of Finances proposed
tax plan as elitist and inconsistent with President Rodrigo Dutertes pro-poor stance.
It said the administration should not burden the poor with new taxes and be brave enough to
tax the richest businesses and families.
The statement came after the DOF submitted the first package of its reform program to the
House of Representatives. The controversial proposal will effectively reduce personal income
tax but will increase excise tax on oil and automobile products.
Solons from the minority bloc criticized the DOF for passing the burden of tax to consumers and
removing the exemption of senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) from valueadded tax (VAT).
According to IBON, the poor will suffer the most from higher prices of goods and services, as
well as transport fares.

The DOFs argument that the new higher taxes are progressive is unsound, it said, adding that
the new program will have a bigger effect on the poor since a peso for the poor is worth so
much more to them than even hundreds or thousands of pesos for the rich.
The additional tax burden that is being put on the poor majority of consumers is unjust amid
their already very low incomes and insecure livelihoods to begin with, IBON said. The
administrations economic managers should not be so reluctant to tax the biggest corporations
and wealthiest families and businessmen to raise revenue for social and economic
services.CDG

Angara seeks to impose tax on

sweepstakes, lotto winnings
By: Maila Ager
@MAgerINQ
INQUIRER.net
02:19 PM August 19th, 2016

Senator Juan Edgardo Sonny Angara now wants to impose

tax on sweepstakes and lotto winnings amounting to P1
million and above to minimize the possible loss in
government coffers if the proposed lowering of personal and
corporate income tax rates is passed into law.
Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on ways and
means, filed Senate Bill 1009 that seeks to amend the
National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 by removing the tax
exemption on sweepstakes and lotto winnings in the country.
The 20-percent final tax shall now be imposed only to PCSO
(Philippine Charity and Sweepstake Office) winnings
amounting to P1 million and above, he said in the
explanatory note of the bill.
Angara noted that in 2014, the PCSO jackpot prizes reached P2.9 billion while low-tier prizes
reached P8.2 billion.
Without the tax exemption, the winnings could have translated to more than P2.2 billion in
government revenues, said the senator.

The bill, he said, would also ensure that any tax on PCSO winnings would accrue only to the
Philippine government.
It should be recalled that in November of 2010, a balikbayan, who is already a US citizen, paid
almost P200 million in taxes to the United States Internal Revenue Services after winning the
P741-million jackpot prize in the grand lotto draw, said the senator.
With jackpot prizes reaching hundreds of millions of pesos, we must ensure that the benefits
from PCSO sweepstakes and lotto would go to the Philippine government, bearing in mind that
any amount of taxes paid eventually translates to better social programs and public services for
the Filipino people, he further explained.
Angara said the government should find ways to generate additional income amid the public
clamor to reduce the income tax rates.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself is pushing for the passage of a measure that would reduce
income tax rates.
While the clamor for the indexation and lowering of personal and corporate income tax rates
has already gained ground, it is prudent to find ways of generating additional sources of income
to minimize the possible loss in the government coffers, he said.
We must uphold fiscal responsibility to ensure that the economic gains and the sound fiscal
environment we have achieved during the previous administration will not be put to naught and
instead be sustained and improved, said the senator. RAM