Can Cham to hold seminar on second package of tax reform

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (CanCham)-Cebu Chapter will be mounting a forum on the second package of the government’s tax reform program next week.

CanCham Cebu president Felix Tiukinhoy said there is a need for CanCham members to understand fully the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law, especially its impact to business and consumers.

CanCham Cebu has tapped Wendell Gahinhin of P&A Grant Thornton-Cebu to be the key speaker.

“It is good to understand fully how the new law will impact our businesses across industries,” Tiukinhoy said.

Earlier, Tiukinhoy, also the president of Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc., said they remain on a wait-and-see mode on the impact of the government’s tax reform program on food prices.

“We don’t have a clear picture of how consumers would react to the changes and how the business should adjust to these changes,” he said.

CanCham members are in the field of medical and healthcare, education, real estate, meat processing, and retail, among others.

The government has implemented the first package of Train at the start of this year.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said it is fine-tuning certain aspects of Package 2 Plus of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) to make sure that the proposal it submits to the Congress is “solid, well-consulted and well-researched.” Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua, in a statement, said some aspects of Package 2 Plus on the removal of the value-added tax (VAT) exemptions for coal and casino operations have already been included in Package 2, which covers corporate taxation and the modernization of fiscal incentives.

Package 2 was submitted to the House of Representatives last Jan. 16, following the reopening of the Congress after its yearend break.

On further adjusting the excise taxes on tobacco products, which is part of Package 2 Plus, Chua said the DOF will no longer submit a new proposal but would instead support the bill filed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao on the tax and proposed amendments.

The corresponding hike in alcohol excise taxes, meanwhile, is now undergoing final review and consultation, Chua said.

Another component of Package 2 Plus is the proposal on a comprehensive mining tax.

“So we are early in some and a bit late in some. But this will ensure the bill is solid, well-consulted and well-researched,” Chua said.

Besides Package 2 Plus, the DOF will also submit Package 3, which covers property taxation and Package 4 on capital income within the year.

The Congress has committed to approve Package 1B, the remaining one third of the Train, in the first quarter of this year. /