MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) is studying ways to effectively engage lawmakers in the 18th Congress to help speed up the approval of the remaining tax reform proposals of the Duterte administration.
During a recent DOF executive committee meeting, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez told finance officials that the agency needs to improve its coordination with Congress to ensure that the remaining packages under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) are passed within the year.
“We have to improve our engagement with the legislature, and we have to get it more organized. We have to get our tax reform packages passed by the end of this year,” Dominguez said.
Currently, there are still three tax reform packages that have yet to be approved by Congress.
These include Package 2, which aims to lower the corporate income tax (CIT) and modernize the fiscal incentives system; Package 3, which seeks reforms in the property valuation system; and Package 4, which rationalizes capital income taxation.
Some components of Package 2 Plus, such as the increase in alcohol excise and the government’s share from mining operations, have likewise not been passed in the 17th Congress.
Aside from ensuring the swift passage of these bills, Dominguez also called on finance officials to explain to legislators why some bills, particularly those that aim to grant tax exemptions and other perks, would be “financially unwise” for the country in the long run.
During the executive committee meeting, Dominguez also listed the priority programs and initiatives to be pursued by the agency in the next three years.
He said the government should increase tax revenues by, among others, collecting the right amount of taxes from Philippine offshore gaming operators and their foreign employees; ensure that the Bureau of the Treasury is functioning well; privatize idle state assets; collect unpaid debt due the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.; and improve dividend contributions of government-owned and -controlled corporations.
The finance chief also instructed DOF officials to accelerate the full implementation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and the fuel marking program, and to assist in the proper implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law.
He also directed them to conduct studies on the feasibility of liberalizing imports of certain agricultural products such as sugar, ways to strengthen disaster-risk financing programs in communities and the future of the Al-Amanah Bank under a new Bangsamoro region.
Dominguez said they should also study the government’s plan to buy the stake of the Philippine Stock Exchange in the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp.; the privatization of the United Coconut Planters Bank and the transfer of the Credit Information Corp. to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran also cited the Warehouse Receipts Bill as another priority measure to help expand the access of farmers to credit and improve the ease of doing business in the rural sector, while DOF Assistant Secretary Antonio Lambino mentioned the completion and full implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) to facilitate the country’s trade with its neighbors in the region.