House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela party-list Representative Arlene Brosas recently filed a house bill for a 12% VAT exemption on basic goods last October 12.
"Gustong gusto po natin itong isulong but apparently there is no action pa hanggang ngayon sa Congress dahil naka recess pa po tayo, but nevertheless nagkakaroon naman tayo ng mga Committee Hearings," said Brosas in an interview with Milky Rigonan at DZRH ‘Isyung Pambayan’ over the weekend.
(We really want to advance the bill but apparently, there is no action yet in Congress since it is still in recess, nevertheless, we have Committee Hearings about it)
She talked about the objective of the bill which is to ease the budget of the public because of the rising inflation and increasing costs of basic commodities. She also added that the proposal is a solution to those kinds of problems.
Brosas also listed the goods that are part of the exemption which are bread, canned meat, pork, beef, fish, instant noodles, sugar, biscuit, iodized salt, firewood, cooking oil, laundry soap, charcoal, candles, and essential drugs (maintenance).
“Sa totoo lang hindi po malaki yan para sa gobyerno, higit na mababa po yan kaysa sa IT law na ang tinanggal natin ay 25%, pinababa natin from 35% to 25% to 20%, ngayon yung taxes sa mga malalaking kumpanya….Kung sa VAT po, hindi naman po yan aabot ng ganong kalaki…..hindi ganyan katulad ng tinanggal natin noong CREATE law which is for the corporate income taxes na pinababa natin, noong panahon ng 2018 or 2019," she said about the government’s concern on their revenues.
(Truthfully, it is not that big for the government. In fact, it is lower than the IT law where we removed 25%, starting with 35% lower to 25% then to 20%, taxes in big corporations….For VAT, it is not going to reach that much……..It is not like what we removed during CREATE law for corporate income taxes where we lowered it, last 2018 or 2019.)
She added that the VAT exemption is a ‘relief’ for Filipinos, due to the hardships in life because of the effects of growing inflation and costs.
The government has a lot of ways to look for more profits if it is not enough, like the other taxes imposed and those from the wealthiest Filipinos, she mentioned.
She noted that the bill is something to give back to the public and that it was something proposed for them.
