Package 1B expected to generate P106.7B

POTENTIAL revenues from the proposed Package 1B of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program ( CTRP) could hit P106.7 billion by the end of 2021, data from the Department of Budget and Management showed.

Package 1B, which covers a proposed tax amnesty, bank secrecy laws, and Motor Vehicle Users Charge ( MVUC) adjustments, is a complement to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law passed last December and implemented at the start of 2018.

An estate tax amnesty targeted for implementation next year is expected to raise P6 billion while a general tax amnesty will add P13.6 billion.

Bank secrecy and exchange of information measures, meanwhile, are projected to generate P16.5 billion in 2019, P18.2 billion in 2020 and P20 billion in 2021.

Lastly, MVUC provisions are expected to raise P1.1 billion in 2019, P15.5 in 2020 and P15.8 billion in 2021.

On Sunday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said he was hoping that Congress would pass all CTRP packages by the end of this year, including Package 1B.

This is “especially because lawmakers would, at the onset of 2019, be already preoccupied

with their respective campaigns for next year’s midterm elec-

The government aims to raise P3.2 trillion in revenues in 2019, including P181.4 billion from tax reforms. The revenue goal is equivalent to 16.5 percent of gross domestic product, higher than the 15.6 percent attained in 2017 and this year’s target of 16.2 percent.

The projected tax reform revenue of P181.4 billion will come from Train as well as Package 1B, Dominguez said.