THE policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced it passed a resolution suspending the collection of amusement taxes for the screenings of local films in Metro Manila for the next three years.
MMDA Acting Chairman and Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Overall Concurrent Chairman Romando S. Artes said that the resolution will soon be adopted by each local government unit in Metro Manila.
“In support of the resolution, they will amend their respective local revenue codes to waive the amusement tax for Filipino movies exhibited in Metro Manila from January 8 to December 24 of every year for the next three years,” Artes said.
The resolution of the Metro Manila Council (MMC) stated that the imposition of amusement tax in Filipino films “adds a financial burden to local film producers, potentially affecting the sustainability of the Filipino film industry.”
During the MMC meeting last Wednesday, the Film Development Council of the Philippines through Film Director Jose Javier Reyes said that the state of the Philippine film industry is dismal and has declined significantly.
Reyes said that during the pandemic, the film industry faced streaming platforms, content piracy and heavy taxation.He explained that a producer needs to pay three types of taxes for each film: a 10-percent amusement tax; value added tax; and, an income tax.
These made “us the most heavily-taxed movie industry in the world,” Reyes said emphasizing that the 3-year moratorium of amusement tax will mean survival for the industry.
Local movie industry players have voiced out this concern to Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos during the screening of the inaugural Manila International Film Festival held last January.
In a roundtable discussion, Abalos has presented ease of doing business initiatives in the country to the producers, filmmakers, actresses and actors. He also emphasized the support of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to bring back “the glory of Philippine cinema.”
“The DILG is in full support to reinvigorate the Filipino filmmaking industry and help them by bringing back the local moviegoers into watching in cinemas again,” he said.
The moratorium on the imposition of amusement taxes excludes the period of the MMFF, which is from December 25 of every year until January 7 of the following year. Amusement taxes during the said period are waived by LGUs of Metro Manila in favor and in support of MMFF beneficiaries such as the FDCP, the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (Mowelfund), the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council and the Optical Media Board.
“The move is also to encourage the production and exhibition of quality Filipino films by providing relief and assistance to filmmakers and producers,” the MMC resolution stated.
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