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By Maricel E. Burgonio, Reporter
THE Department of Finance said starting next
month it would push for the passage of a bill in Congress that would
raise taxes from self-employed individuals and professionals.
It was a quick turnaround for the agency, which
only a few months ago said the government would no longer pursue new
tax measures, and instead would focus on implementing laws passed by
the Thirteenth Congress.
Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said the
government will focus on continued improvement in revenue collection
to achieve higher economic growth.
“After the Congress resumes session in
November, the [department] plans to submit a bill providing for the
restructuring of income taxes, particularly for self-employed
individuals and professionals,” Teves said.
Individual income-tax payments make up less than
a quarter of the collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
State-run National Tax Research Center (NTRC)
reported earlier that the estimated individual income-tax gap from
2001 to 2004 averaged P32.6 billion a year. Compensation-income
earners accounted for P7.17 billion of the tax losses, while
businessmen, professionals and the self-employed made up for the
remaining P25.43 billion.
Income tax from self-em-ployed individuals
accounted for P100 billion out of a total tax take of P468 billion.
The new tax measure comes even as the BIR and
Bureau of Customs, both of which account for the biggest chunk of
government revenues, posted improvements in their collections in
recent months after a first-half shortfall.
The two agencies’ failure to meet
first-semester collection targets pushed government to crank up the
sale of state assets, including a strategic stake in the country’s
largest geothermal energy producer, Philippine National Oil
Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC).
The government is hard-pressed in keeping its
budget deficit below a P63-billion ceiling this year, and turning in
a surplus starting next year.
Aside from the restructuring of income taxes,
the department is pushing for a bill streamlining the government’s
investment incentives system, House Bill 2278, the proposed
Consolidated Investments Incentives Code.
The proposed rationalization of tax incentives,
which will scrap the perks granted to profitable companies, failed
to pass the Thirteenth Congress.
“We will continue to work hard to improve the
country’s economic fundamentals. We would like to push ahead with
key revenue enhancing measures to sustain investor’s
confidence,” Teves said.
Economic managers forecast the economy, as
measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), to grow
between 6.1 percent and 6.7 percent this year. This translates to a
deficit-to-GDP ratio of 0.9 percent this year and revenues of P1.18
trillion.
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