A proposal in Congress to raise the taxes on ‘sin products’ namely alcoholic drinks and tobacco/cigarets would be better than suspending excise taxes on fuel to cushion the impact of oil price hikes on consumer. But please include raising taxes on gambling, especially esabong, which benefits only the gambling lords to the detriment of the common man and children.
House Deputy Speaker Bienvenido Abante Jr. urged Congress to raise the taxes on tobacco and alcoholic drinks or what is categorized as sin taxes to offset the losses from reducing excise taxes on fuel or suspending it to cushion the oil price hikes on consumers.
He added raising taxes on healthy sweetened beverages to raise even more revenue,” Abante added.
But why zero in on alcohol and cigarets/tobacco for raising revenues. Gambling, especially esabong, which the President refuses to stop, should be taxed heavily to discourage people from this deadly vice, which benefits only the gambling lords. There is no proof that gambling revenues are being used for the pandemic response of government, so this is a lame excuse for not stopping this demonic vice, which has victimized farmers, those with the least in life and youngsters (as young as 5 years who bet P100 for a few seconds and become addicted to it).
Abante said
“there is going to be a domino effect if fuel prices continue to soar, transportation costs will increase, which will add to the costs of goods and services,” said a report of Business Mirror.
“It is also inevitable to ask for extra public utility vehicles’ fare, forcing ordinary workers to spend more out of their budget for transportation,” Abante said.
Abante cited data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showing the potential of sin taxes in offsetting the possible losses that could be incurred from suspending or reducing excise taxes on fuel.
Even during the pandemic, Abante said sin tax collections from cigarettes and alcoholic beverages rose from P224.6 billion in 2019 to P227.6 billion in 2020, which exceeded the DOF’s P201.5-billion target.
P332.3-B from sin taxes, sweetened beverages
He said that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Karl Kendrick T. Chua also revealed that the government could raise around P332.3 billion from taxes on ‘sin’ products—redefined to include sweetened beverages—as these would also cover electronic cigarettes such as heated tobacco products, vapor (vaping) products, as well as additional increases in the excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products.
Abante cited the DOF stance that suspending fuel excise taxes could lead to revenue losses amounting to P105.9 billion.
“I agree that these funds are needed for vital government programs,” he said. “But if we just reduce the fuel excise taxes to cushion rising oil prices, then collect additional taxes from sin products, our people will be spared from the hardship caused by these weekly rising gas prices.”
With their power of taxation and despite reservation from the government’s economic team, the Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee has already recommended to the leadership of the House of Representatives to approve House Bill 10488 reducing excise tax on fuel products.
The bill aims to reduce excise taxes on diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas to zero.
Under the bill, excise taxes on low-octane gasoline, used primarily by tricycle drivers, will also be reduced to P4.35 from the current P7, while taxes on premium gasoline will be retained at P10. This proposal will cost the government around P45 billion.
Tags: #Congress, #raisesintaxes, #suspendingexcisetaxesonfuel, #DoF, # NEDA, #economy