Pinas, naghahanda ng tax measures para bayaran ang COVID-19 response

NAGHAHANDA na ang Department of Finance (DOF) ng fiscal consolidation proposal nito para sa gagawing pagpapataas sa singil sa buwis para pambayad sa tumataas na utang ng Pilipinas.

Sinabi ni Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III sa Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), na kasama sa kanyang panukala ang measures o mga hakbang na makapalilikha ng revenues o kita para pambayad ng bansa sa utang na ginamit para tugunan ang COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are just putting the final touches on our fiscal consolidation plan and we are not… At this point I don’t have a complete package but certainly, looking realistically at our situation, we have to pay for COVID,” ayon kay Dominguez.

“I mean, we cannot just have COVID and not pay for it okay. You don’t know how much we spent in just paying for the vaccines,” dagdag na pahayag nito.

Sa huling data ng DOF, nakasaad dito na naka-raised ang bansa ng $22.55 billion na budgetary support financing “as of January 14, 2022.”

Kabilang na rito ang mga kasunduan sa Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, tAgence Française de Développement, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Bank of Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund, at foreign currency denominated global bonds.

“Again I tell you, doing tax reform, doing any reform requires a lot of planning and a lot of strategic thinking. You cannot just go there and start waving a banner and say, ‘Oh, we’ll do this, we’ll do that,’ you can’t do it,” ayon kay Dominguez.

“You have to sit down, think about it, think who your enemies are, think who your friends are, and hopefully your enemies make mistakes and that you don’t,” aniya pa rin.

Sa ilalim ng liderato ni Dominguez, sinimulan ng DOF ang tax reform program ng administrasyong Duterte na may mga kaukulang batas gaya ng Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), atCorporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE).

“Reforming the tax system in this country required a lot of confidence and it was a confidence building exercise,” ayon kay Dominguez.(Daris Jose)