Legislators urged: Tune out poll noise, pass tax reform packages

THE head of the administration’s economic team is urging legislators to heed the President Rodrigo Duterte’s call and immediately pass the remaining packages of its comprehensive tax reform proposal despite cynical reception by some sectors.

“Our legislators are currently studying the succeeding packages of the tax reform program. Although they labor under the usual noise that accompanies each electoral season, we are hopeful they will consider the long-term benefits to the country of completing this reform program at the soonest possible time,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a statement on Wednesday.

The first package under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act was signed into law by Mr. Duterte in December 2017, while four more packages were pending in Congress, including the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill.

The proposed Trabaho bill was the Duterte administration’s second tax package aimed at slashing the corporate income tax rate from 30 percent at present—the highest in Asean, while rationalizing the fiscal perks being enjoyed by investors to reduce the government’s foregone revenues.

While the Trabaho bill was already passed by the Lower House, deliberations in the Senate were being delayed as some senators prepare for the midterm elections in May next year while also expressing wariness after the TRAIN Law was blamed for the higher consumer prices of late.