DoF hopes Senate panel meets end- Sept. target for tax reform

THE Department of Finance (DoF) said it is hopeful the Senate will meet its target of committee-level approval for the first package of the tax reform program this month.

A year after the first package was submitted to Congress, the DoF said in a statement that it “remains optimistic that the Senate can meet its target of wrapping up its committee hearings this month on the proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN).”

Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua was also quoted as saying: “We’re still on track for the Senate to approve [the TRAIN], followed by the bicameral conference committee, then the President’s approval, and the preparation of the implementing rules and regulations, so that on Jan. 1, we have a tax reform that we can implement as a package. So that is where we are going,”

According to the Senate web site, the committee on ways and means is scheduled to have a “Synthesis of the ‘Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion’” hearing on Wednesday morning.

Asked whether committee approval is possible on Wednesday, Mr. Chua said in a mobile phone reply that it may come on Sept. 20, according to the Senate.

Senate ways and means committee chair Juan Edgardo M. Angara did not respond to questions about a possible committee report as early as this Wednesday, but had earlier said that he expects a committee report “by September.”

The first package of the tax reform program aims to lower personal income tax rates while withdrawing some value- added tax exemptions, increasing excise tax rates for fuel and automobiles and introducing a sugarsweetened beverage excise tax, harmonizing estate, donor taxes at a lower rate, on top of tax administration measures.

The House of Representatives at the end of May approved its version of the tax reform package, as House Bill No. 5636, by a vote of 246-9 with one abstention.

In its current configuration, P133.8 billion is expected in additional revenue in the first year of implementation — targeted for 2018.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said earlier that a veto is an option if the Senate weakens the revenue provisions further, noting the government’s need to fund its infrastructure and social spending plan. —