Tax on rich needed to hit Recto's P4.3T collection goal — IBON

Economic think tank IBON Foundation has renewed its call for the imposition of wealth tax after newly appointed Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said that his first order of business would be prioritizing the collection of P4.3 trillion in taxes next year to boost state coffers.

In a report on Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday, IBON executive director Sonny Africa raised concerns that the poor and middle classes would be mostly burdened by the tax collection target.

While the government would benefit from an intensified campaign to go after tax evaders and improved tax collection methods, Africa said the target would be difficult to achieve without revamping the tax system itself.

"Binabawasan 'yung mga buwis sa malalaking kumpanya at sa mayayamang pamilya, at ang pampuno nila [nanggagaling] sa ordinaryong Pilipino. Pati 'yung mga [gumagamit] ngayon ng plastic bag, digital services, Motor Vehicle User's Charge, 'yung middle class ang magbabalikat niyan. Pandagdag 'yung sa matamis na inumin, maging sa alkohol... Ang pinapatawan ng buwis, hindi yung kita o yaman, kundi yung konsumo," Africa said.

[Taxes on big companies and rich families have been decreasing. The gap is being filled through taxes on ordinary Filipinos. The middle class shoulders the additional taxes on plastic bags, digital services, the Motor Vehicle User's Charge (MVUC), sweetened beverages, and alcohol. The current taxes aren't imposed on income or wealth, but on consumption.]

The IBON executive director reiterated the group's push to tax the country's richest 1%.

"Sa tax sa yaman ng bilyonaryo ang laki ng kikitain," Africa said.

(The government will earn much by taxing billionaires.)

Citing the group's estimates, he said the government would be able to collect half a billion pesos yearly from the nearly 3,000 Filipino billionaires, who have a cumulative wealth of P8.1 trillion.

IBON earlier said taxing the billionaires with a wealth tax of 1% for wealth over P1 billion, 2% over P2 billion, and 3% over P3 billion would raise some P467.1 billion.

"Kung kailangan ng gobyerno ng kita, dagdagan ang buwis ang mayayaman para naman mabuhat ang buwis na binabayaran ng mahihirap," Africa said.

(If the government needs income, it should impose more taxes on the rich to ease the taxes paid by the poor.)

The previous administration has rejected proposals to impose taxes on the wealthiest individuals in the country, warning that it would scare away investors and encourage tax avoidance schemes.

Former Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno had expressed doubts that a measure impose additional taxes on the wealthiest individuals would be passed by Congress. Diokno had said calls for the proposed wealth tax have lingered, but failed to hurdle lawmakers' approval. — VDV, GMA Integrated News