PARTY-LIST Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna has urged Duterte Cabinet members and his fellow lawmakers to go slow in the imposition of new and higher taxes, saying the burden will be passed on to the poor.
Other critics have asked President Duterte to discipline his subalterns, since “they have become addicted to inflicting more taxes on consumers, reassuring them that in this part of the woods, only death and taxes are certain.”
Zarate noted that it is the Department of Finance (DOF) that has the biggest problem, since both the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) have not improved their collection efficiency.
He said the DOF itself admitted that in 2012, the BIR’s “lost” revenues amounted to P400 billion, or 4 percent of the country’s GDP.
In the same year, the BOC failed to collect P200 billion in duties, as well.
“The inefficiency in revenue collection is glaring. Kung makokolekta nga lang annually maski iyong BOC P200 billion losses ay malaki pa ito sa makukuha sa proposed oil- excise tax. Kung makokolekta pa ang P400 billion na revenue losses ng BIR, ay walang dahilan para magpataw pa ng bagong burdensome taxes,” he added.
“We hope that the DOF would listen and follow President Duterte’s instruction last August to lift anti-poor and sex-biased taxes and not add more tax burden to the public,” Zarate added.
Bayan Muna opposes any additional taxes, particularly now that the Duterte administration is scrounging for funds to finance its P8-trillion budget for infrastructure projects until 2022.
Moreover, the government has already approved a $2-billion global bond float, with $500 million earmarked for spending and $1.5 billion to pay foreign and domestic debt.
Zarate said that, among the revenue measures proposed by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and some members of the House of Representatives cover excise taxes on oil products; taxes on vanity products, electronics, sugar, salt; “excess” electronic gadgets and household appliances; and even on the drug Viagra.
“Instead of raising more regressive taxes, what should be done is for the BIR and the BOC to increase its collection efficiency. The BIR and BOC should not rely mainly on indirect consumption taxes, like the value-added tax and excise taxes, which hit the poor the hardest because it is ultimately passed on to consumers regardless of their salaries,” Zarate said.
“Burdening the poor even more while protecting the rich and big corporations is very regressive and characteristic of the neoliberal economic policies of past administrations that are still being pushed by the current economic advisers of the administration,” the Davao City-based lawmaker added.
“Parang sa SSS [Social Security System] lang din iyan, ang kailangan lang ay magsipag sila at kolektahin ang contributions ng tama at di na dapat magtaas pa ng contributions. Dapat galingan ng BIR and BOC ang koleksyon at pigilan ang korapsyon sa kanilang mga ahensya para hindi na kailangan pa ng bagong mga buwis o pagtataas ng mga lumang buwis pa,” Zarate added.