Duterte backs tax

total of something like P800 billion or P900 billion, and that will be spent over let’s say six years, right? Certainly, that’s not enough to cover the P8-trillion program that we need to spend on.”

“So we have to somehow pay for it, and the only way to pay for it is to have a tax reform program,” said Dominguez.

The CTRP proposes sizable cuts in the personal income tax (PIT) rates of low- and middle-income taxpayers along with revenue-offsetting measures, including broadening the value-added tax (VAT) base and raising oil and automobile excise taxes that have not changed in 20 years.

With the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanding by a high 6.8 percent in 2016, Dominguez said there is more reason for the DOF to aggressively engage in its proposed CTRP, and the Congress to swiftly act on it, so the Duterte administration could raise enough funds for its unparalleled spending program on infrastructure, human capital and social protection that would keep the Philippines among Asia’s fastest-growing economies in the years ahead.

He said the CTRP is integral into the administration’s high and inclusive growth strategy because “it needs to raise an extra P1.07 trillion till 2022 to close the infrastructure gap that has for long dulled the country’s competitiveness as an investment destination.

The administration, according to the Finance department, also intends to spend more on education, health and skills training to improve living standards and widen access to high-paying quality jobs. Part of its spending program also focuses on social protection to cushion the initial impact of reforms on the poor and other vulnerable sectors.