The Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Law is a newly passed law effective in January 01,

2018. While we celebrated the new year and were excited to start with a clean slate, we were taking
the TRAIN law with us.It includes changes in the way the gov't taxes the income of its people, some
changes in taxes applied in certain products and such other changes regarding taxation in the
Philippines. The seminar talked about the First Package of the said law.The goal of the first package
of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) or TRAIN is to create a more just, simple, and
more effective system of tax collection, as per the constitution, where the rich will have a bigger
contribution and the poor will benefit more from the government’s programs and services. The
speaker gave important points and changes to be remembered regarding the first package.

The speaker pointed out some thoughts regarding the TRAIN law, such as the good points like:

 Under the TRAIN law, workers with an annual salary of P250,000 is exempted from tax. Salaries
that were once deducted 5% to 32% in tax rate now have 0% tax deduction from 2018 and
beyond.Tax exemption includes the mandated 13th month bonus and other bonuses. This means
every employee can now take home more than they did the previous years. But since everything is a
give-and-take process, some goods will be priced higher from now on.

But anticipation for the following should be observed:

 Sugar-sweetened beverages, once without taxes, are now P6/liter while high fructose corn syrup
beverages are at P12/liter.Exempted from this are milk products, 100% natural fruit and vegetable
juices, and ground, instant, and pre-packaged coffee products.
 A pack of cigarettes that costs P30 will now cost P32.50 this year and will increase in P2.5
increments until 2022
 The TRAIN law imposes an 8-peso increase in petroleum products per liter this year. For diesel
and kerosene, the once non-existent excise tax will now be at P2.50-P3/liter. Household gas LPG
will have an added P1/liter. Taxes in petroleum and gas will gradually increase until 2020.
 Under the TRAIN law, a flat rate of 6% will be imposed on both estate and donor tax. In the old
law, the net estate value last year went up to 20% if the estate was worth P200,000 and above. With
the TRAIN law, estates worth P5 million and below will have zero tax rate, but P5 million and
above will have 6% of the excess over P5 million.

After the overview of the first package, some students asked questions for clarifications . The speaker
also clarified that CPA board takers should not worry since that would not be included in the upcoming
board (applying the 6 months implementation).

To spice up and step up the game, the officers of R4 also asked questions regarding the seminar itself
in order to assess the participant’s attentiveness throughout. In exchange, the hand out give away which
applaud the participants.

There was never a dull moment during the seminar. The discussions were very much alive because
the speaker was a fun and informative person. The said seminar was very helpful to the students
especially to those who are currently taking taxation subjects. The speaker frequently asked questions
during the discussion to see if the students are really listening to what he is discussing and to enable
the students to raise their concerns about the topics.