Senate panel endorses P15B-P20B a year sin tax measure ...

The Senate ways and means committee on Wednesday said the sin tax measure it endorsed will raise P15 billion to P20 billion a year in additional revenues for government.
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The Senate version is lower in revenue generation terms than sin tax bill approved last June by the House of Representatives, which is expected to raise P31.35 billion in the first year it takes effect.
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"Our committee report predictably and responsibly could generate in the first year between P15 billion to P20 billion," said Sen. Ralph Recto, who chairs the ways and means committee.
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The Aquino administration, particularly the Department of Finance, was eyeing to raise P60 billion more revenues from the sin tax measures.
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Recto said he believes the Senate version could lower alcohol and cigarette consumption and yield fresh revenues to expand healthcare programs.
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The Finance and Health Departments were pushing for higher taxes on alcohol beverages and cigarettes to raise more revenues and discourage new smokers ? especially among the youth.
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However, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima noted the Senate committee came up with something short of what government was hoping for.
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"We thank Senator Recto for his efforts but they fall short of what we need," Purisima said.
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Advocates of the measure and members of civil society hit Recto for what they deemed as a "watered-down" version of the sin tax bill, saying it will favor big tobacco firms rather than meet the concerns about ill effects of smoking on health.
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?Show us that you are a senator of Filipinos and not a senator of tobacco companies,? said Dr. Maricar Limpin of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines or FCAP.
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?Once you pass a sin tax bill not favorable to the Filipino people, then by 2016, I am sure you will not be elected to the Senate again,? she added.
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Former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the Senate should pass a ?real? sin tax bill that truly addresses revenue generation and public health.
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?We don?t want a token sin tax bill where legislators claim to have a sin tax bill but in actuality favors the industry rather than health,? Cabral said.
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Dr. Tony Leachon, a Health Department consultant on non-communicable diseases, said Recto is ignoring ?? the sumptuary purpose of the sin tax policy as a health measure.?
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A three-tier tax system, cigarettes would still be accessible to the youth and lead to more deaths due to non-communicable diseases, Leachon noted, saying the results of the Senate bill would be lower revenues for government and less revenues for the health sector.
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Purisima was lobbying for the Finance Department-backed version designed to generate additional revenues of P60 billion in the first year of implementation.
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The original Finance-backed measure would be the most beneficial in terms of revenues and health, according to the Finance chief.
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The bill favored by the Finance Department allots 85 percent of revenues from sin taxes to government health program and 15 percent to help tobacco farmer whose livelihood would be affected by higher taxes on cigarettes. ? VS, GMA News

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/277727/economy/finance/senate-panel-endorses-p15b-p20b-a-year-sin-tax-measure

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