TRAIN to finance 5 infra projects in 2019
Revenues from the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act will be used to fund at least five infrastructure projects in 2019, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said yesterday.
During a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Finance on the 2019 proposed national budget, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said part of the proceeds from TRAIN would be allocated for the implementation of the government’s flagship infrastructure projects next year.
Among these is the construction of sports facilities in the National Government Adminis- trative Center as part of the New Clark City. The project, which will be implemented by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), has a proposed funding of P9.5 billion.
About P2.9 billion of revenue from TRAIN will be used to fund the Subic-Clark Railway Project, also to be implemented by the BCDA.
Diokno also mentioned the Ambal-Simuay River and Rio Grande de Mindanao River Flood Control Projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which have a combined funding of P2.6 billion.
Also to be financed with tax reform revenues are the New Cebu International Container Port (P200 million) and the priority bridges crossing Pasig River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges (P600 million).
The TRAIN Law, which was implemented on Jan. 1, aims to simplify the country’s tax system by lowering personal income taxes.
It also adjusted excise taxes on fuel, automobile, coal, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and expanded the tax base by removing value-added tax exemptions.
According to estimates from the DOF, the law is expected to generate an additional P89.9 billion in revenue this year.
Combined with the proposed tax amnesty program and the adjustments in the Motor Vehicle Users Charge, the DOF said the tax reform law is projected to raise P181.4 billion in revenue next year. Aside from infrastructure projects, Diokno said more than P44 billion of income from TRAIN would be used next year to roll out social mitigating measures to help Filipinos cope with the increase in prices of commodities.
These initiatives include the unconditional cash transfer program, which provides cash subsidies to the poorest 10 million Filipino households.
The unconditional cash transfer program has a total allocation of P37.6 billion for 2019, 46.3 percent higher than this year’s level of P25.7 billion. This was due to the increase in cash subsidies to P3,600 annually from the current P2,400.
The government is also implementing a pantawid pasada program, which will have a 2019 funding of P3.9 billion, more than three times the 2018 allocation of P1 billion.
Revenues from TRAIN are also being used for the rollout of the PUV modernization program, which has a proposed 2019 budget of P2.7 billion. This was 11.8 percent lower than this year’s allocation of P3.1 billion.