Noy remains firm vs income tax cuts

KUALA LUMPUR – President Aquino is still not amenable to proposals lowering income taxes.

In an interview with reporters on Sunday night after attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and related summits here, Aquino said Congress leaders told him they may not be able to pass complementary measures, like lifting bank secrecy to improve collections and recover revenues to be lost once income taxes are lowered.

“Is that a responsible action? I am not sure, that’s why we are still studying the matter,” Aquino said.

The President said he could not just make a decision that could earn brownie points for his administration but would only create problems for his successor.

“What about my conscience? There are a lot of headaches, problems, which have not been resolved. The others, we are still solving until this day. They were left to me. I promised not to pass (problems) to my successor,” Aquino said.

Aquino said he does not want to risk the country’s current credit ratings by cutting the sources of revenues without a clear trade-off.

The President said being fiscally irresponsible would have repercussions. He said his successor would only blame him if income taxes would have to be raised later because of a budget deficit.

Pressure

He said he is aware of the pressure on some members of Congress in view of the election season, but does not want to give the public false hopes.

The President said he told lawmakers to strike a balance between proposals to lower income taxes and improve collections.

Early this month, Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. met with Aquino and his economic managers led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to persuade him to agree to proposals to adjust income tax rates.

–