Revenue Regulation on sweetened drinks still under review

MANILA -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has yet to produce a Revenue Regulation (RR) on the newly-adopted excise tax for sugarsweetened beverages. A BIR official says they are taking their time on the matter so as to address any issue that may crop up.

BIR Deputy Commissioner Marissa O. Cabreros told reporters that the BIR has already submitted the draft RR to the Department of Finance (DOF) for review. She said there is no need to fast-track the RR's issuance but cited the need to conduct a thorough study since the excise tax is new.

The excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is part of the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which was implemented at the start of 2018. “So it is really being refined. There are several con- sultations being made with the stakeholders because we don’t want to be over-burdened with something that is beyond reality and something we can’t implement,” she said.

Cabreros said the consultations are also being conducted to explain to affected taxpayers how they can easily comply with the new taxes and for the BIR to determine how it can easily monitor and verify reports from affected companies. “It’s just a matter of introducing them anew to the excise tax system, which is actually a different tax type,” she said.

The BIR executive said they have issued several RRs related to TRAIN. “But as the need arises, we will be coming up with further RRs to properly implement TRAIN,” she said.

The revenue official said other administrative technicalities have yet to be clarified, such as those having to do with electronic invoices and machines. She said the agency’s information technology (IT) team was given until 2019 “to look into it and work into it.”