Senate scrutinizing TRAIN 2 tomorrow

The Senate Ways and Means Committee will start tackling the proposed second tranche of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) 2 Law tomorrow, committee chairperson Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said.

The House of Representatives has approved its version of the measure last September 10, voting 187-14, despite the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities and services.

Angara assured that the committee will thoroughly scrutinize the provisions of the bill touted by the House as a “TRABAHO” bill which seeks to rationalize tax incentives granted to corporations and improve competitiveness and attain fiscal sustainability by bringing down the corporate income tax rate from 30 percent to 20 percent.

“I think that the Senate’s version of the bill would be a bit different from the version of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the House. What is important is that we listen to the different sectors that are expressing concerns over the possibility of losing jobs, losing foreign direct investments and direct exporters,” Angara said in a radio interview.

“We need to go slow on this because our economic growth has slowed down to six percent so we need to be very careful here, because anything we do may send a wrong signal to our investment community,” Angara stressed.

“And we know that investments are important to us, because until now we grapple with lack of jobs and quality of jobs,” he pointed out.

“Anything that will contribute to higher inflation rate, I think must be set aside,” he said.