Over 100 brands of maintenance meds now exempt from VAT – DOF

Over a hundred brands of maintenance medicine are now exempt from the payment of the valueadded tax (VAT) as provided under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.

In an emailed statement, the DOF said over 100 medicines with their corresponding generic names and brands for the treatment and prevention of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol are now free of VAT.

This includes commonly prescribed drugs such as Metformin for diabetes, Amlodipine for hypertension, and Simvastatin for high cholesterol.

The complete list, according to the DOF, is set to be released by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) through a revenue memorandum circular (RMC) which will also be posted on its website.

As of yesterday, the list was not yet uploaded on the official BIR website.

Signed into law in December 2017 by President Rodrigo Duterte, the TRAIN expanded the VAT base and reduced personal income taxes (PIT) starting January 2018.

"The government is committed to ensuring that Filipinos, especially the most vulnerable, reap the benefits of the TRAIN Law," said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

"The goal of the CTRP (comprehensive tax reform program) is for the government to provide comprehensive socioeconomic development, and ensuring that we have healthier Filipinos is a key part of that objective," he elaborated.

According to the DOF, the guidelines for the VAT exemption on maintenance medicines were issued under a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) of the DOF and the Department of Health (DOH) on December 21, 2018.

“The sale of drugs not included in the ‘List of VAT-exempt Diabetes, HighCholesterol and Hypertension Drugs' published by the FDA shall be subject to VAT,” according to RR No. 25-2018.