IRA share of LGUs can go up: candidate

There’s a chance the local government units’ (LGUs) share in the internal revenue allotment (IRA) can be raised.

Under the current setup, the income of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which is an agent of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), is not included.

Under the Local Government Code, the IRA sharing is 40 percent for the LGUs and 60 percent for the National Government. However, the sharing represents only the income of the BIR and does not include the BOC’s import taxes.

Senatorial candidate Rafael Alunan said the BOC collects additional taxes for imported vehicles, petroleum products, coal and beverages with sugar under the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Law.

Alunan also said the Department of Budget and Management does not release the entire 40 percent share to the LGUs.

“Only half of the amount of the IRA share (is released) and the rest is subject for negotiation. This is the reason local officials went to the Supreme Court, which decided in favor of the LGUs. I think President Rodrigo Duterte, being a former mayor, will follow the order of the High Tribunal soon,” he said.

During the first implementation of the Local Government Code, he said they discovered that the mandates of the LGUs and the National Government were not synchronized.

“If I will become a senator, one of the things that I will do is to review the Local Government Code and find a way to synchronize it with the mandate of the National Government,” Alunan said.

Alunan is a guest candidate of the administration party PDP-Laban.