President Duterte Urges Congress to Prioritize Remaining Tax Reforms
President Rodrigo Duterte urged Congress on Thursday, June 24, to prioritize the passage of two remaining tax reform bills under his administration.
The proposed Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform (RPVAR) Act and the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation (PIFIT) Act are the two remaining tax reform bills under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP).
Once passed, RPVAR Act will establish a “single valuation base for taxation through the adoption of the schedule of market values of local government units (LGUs), and use the updated values as a benchmark for other purposes, such as right-of-way acquisition, lease, rental, etc.”
The measure aims to broaden property-based taxes of the governments and generate more income for LGUs without increasing existing tax rates or devising new tax impositions.
Meanwhile, PIFIT Act aims to simplify the tax structure for financial instruments once passed by Congress.
Duterte also asked Congress to speed up the approval of the bills amending the Public Service Act and Foreign Investments Act, both of which he certified as urgent last April.
The amendments towards the Public Service Act, proposed by House Bill (HB) No. 78, allow full foreign ownership in the public service sector, including transportation and communications, which had been restricted only to Filipino investors.
The amendments towards the Republic Act (RA) No. 7042, also known as the Foreign Investments Act, seeks to relax restrictions on foreign companies. It lowers the number of direct local hires required for foreign firms.
The bills are part of the priority list identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to be passed before the Duterte administration ends in mid-2022.
Duterte expressed, “the Filipino people eagerly await these genuine reforms and may these laws come to fruitful fruition soon.”
The 18th Congress opened its third and last regular session on July 26.
