Salceda seeks 14% increase in taxes on vape products

Albay Representative Joey Salceda wants to increase the taxes on vape products by an average of 14 percent  to help raise funds for the government, according to Mariz Umali’s “24 Oras” report on Tuesday.

House Bill No. 5532  which he filed also proposed to impose a 20% ad valorem plus P20 specific tax on vaping devices. The measure is expected to raise revenues of around P2.34 billion annually.

Based on government record, only around P242 million were only collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in the heated tobacco products, while P7 million in vape products in 2021.

The Philippine E-Cigarettes Industry Association appealed to the government to fully implement Republic Act 11467, which increases the excise taxes on alcohol products, electronic cigarettes, and heated tobacco products.

The group adds it is open to supporting amendments to the law if there's need to increase existing tax rates.

“Sana tama lang, ‘di naman mamamatay ‘yung industry kasi ‘pag masyadong mataas ang tax, mapupush din naman to the gray market,” Joey Dulay, the group's president said.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Philippines, a non-government organization, said many youth can afford vape products because of low tax.

“Ang pinoproteksyunan naman natin ay ang mga kabataan dahil ayaw natin na magkasakit sila ‘no, at mamatay nang maaga dahil sa paggamit ng vape. So, sino ba ang mas mahalaga? Mas mahalaga ba ang buhay ng industries   o ang buhay ng mga tao lalong-lalo na ng kabataan? As soon as possible, sana maamyendahan na,” Maricar Limpin, executive director the group, said.

Based on the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) results, the overall prevalence of the ever used e-cigarettes among all adults was 5.7%, while the current use of e-cigarettes was 2.1%.

Meanwhile, one in every five Filipino adults or 15.1 million adults currently use tobacco, among whom the percentage of males (34.7%) who currently use tobacco was eight times higher than females (4.2%).—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA Integrated News