Finance chief Dominguez wants all pending tax reform packages passed this 2019

The remaining tax reform packages planned by the administration are should be passed before the end of the year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Wednesday.

“We have to get our tax reform packages passed by the end of this year, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III was quoted as saying by the DOF during a recent Executive Committee meeting.

President Rodrigo Duterte in December 2017 signed into law the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) which expanded the value-added tax (VAT) base to raise more revenues starting January 2018, while reducing personal income taxes.

Still pending, however, is the second package dubbed as the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities (TRABAHO), which seeks to lower the corporate income tax (CIT) and rationalize tax perks currently being enjoyed by businesses in the country.

Earlier this month, Congress passed the Sin Tax Reform Bill, which slaps additional excise taxes on cigarettes starting January 2020. The bill is a component of the administration’s tax reform Package 2 Plus.

Another component of Package 2 Plus is to increase the government’s share from mining operations, which Congress has yet to pass.

Also pending are Package 3 to reform the property valuation system, and Package 4 to rationalize capital income tax.

“We have to improve our engagement with the legislature, and we have to get it more organized,” said Dominguez.

Dominguez has since ordered finance officials to study ways to actively engage lawmakers to speed up the approval of the tax reform packages.

All the 12 senators who won in the midterm elections are associated with the administration, giving Duterte a stronger grip of the upper chamber.

Credit watcher Fitch Ratings has since said that the victory of administration allies would be good for the continuity of policy reforms. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News