DoF cites risks for tax plan without revenue measures

THE Department of Finance (DoF) said the tax reform program would be “fiscally unsustainable” for the government if Congress only passed the proposed cuts in personal income tax rates without the revenue-enhancing components.

In a statement on Tuesday, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the absence of accompanying reforms in tax policy and administration would torpedo the government’s anti-poverty agenda, jack-up its debt-servicing costs by as much as P30 billion annually and pad borrowing costs for households as a result of higher interest rates.