IRA adjustment for LGUs postponed

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo (File photo by JOAN BONDOC / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The mandated adjustment of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) for local government units (LGUs) may not be implemented under the Duterte administration, Malacañang said.

On Wednesday night’s Cabinet meeting presided over by President Duterte, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the government stood to suffer an “unmanageable fiscal deficit” if it were to implement the Supreme Court ruling requiring it to award the adjusted IRA all at once.

The Local Government Code of 1991 provides that LGUs are entitled to a share of internal revenue taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

This includes income tax, value-added tax, excise tax and other taxes. —JULIE M. AURELIO