Senate tax reform version is pro-taxpayer

Deliberations on the first package of the Duterte administration’s tax reform bill – dubbed the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Bill – are on the final stretch, with representatives of the two houses of Congress locked in bicameral conference committee meetings to hammer out a final version for the President’s signature before Christmas.

Reports coming out of those meetings, however, are disconcerting, to say the least, with the Department of Finance (DoF) standing its ground after the Senate version made – as a department press release describes it – “substantial amendments” to what it impertinently calls its “original version.”