FILE PHOTO: Motorists are seen enduring the heavy traffic along Edsa in this file photo taken in November 2021. INQUIRER.net file photo / JONATHAN VICENTE
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a bill that would set new and higher tax rates for vehicle owners.
At the session on Tuesday, House Bill No. 9647 — which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 8794, as amended by R.A. No. 11239 — was approved after 247 lawmakers present voted in favor of the proposal.
Four lawmakers, including three members of the Makabayan bloc, voted against the bill while one abstained.
Aside from changing the name ‘motor vehicle users’ charge’ into motor vehicle road users’ taxes (MVRUT), the bill if enacted would also gradually increase the charges required of car owners.
House committee on ways and means chairperson and Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said during the second reading deliberations of the bill that the MVRUT is government’s most important fiscal instrument against traffic congestion.
He said the measure would increase tax obligations for people with more cars.
However, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas warned that higher car taxes would just put more strain on car owners from the middle class and on public transportation — even if public utility vehicles (PUV) get a 50 percent discount on the new rates.
“While there is a need to decongest roads and disincentivize car ownership in the country, legislating higher car taxes — which will be adjusted on an annual basis — is not the way to go. Instead, fixing the current public mass transport system in the country will reduce dependence on imported vehicles,” Brosas said.
“Sa mas mataas na motor vehicle road user’s tax, tiyak na matindi ang tama sa maliliit na vehicle owners na pinangutang lang naman ang ibinili ng mga sasakyan. Bagamat may 50% discount sa utility vehicles, papasanin pa rin ito ng mga ordinaryong Pilipino,” she added.
(With the high motor vehicle road user’s tax, small vehicle owners who only borrowed money to buy their cars would bear the brunt of the policy. While there is a 50-percent discount for utility vehicles, this will be shouldered by ordinary Filipinos.)
Brosas said that she understands the need to disincentivize car ownership to forge a path toward prioritization of public transportation, but such a policy will only favor foreign cars — because revenues generated from this would be used for the PUV modernization program.
She then claimed that the PUV modernization program meanwhile leans toward importing vehicles rather than nurturing local industries.
READ: House committee approves bill hiking road users’ tax
“The biggest contention stems from the allocation of 45% of the collections under MVURT for the government’s PUV Modernization Program, which is designed to phase out jeepneys and concentrate individual franchises into the hands of a wealthy few,” Brosas said.
“Ibig sabihin, halos kalahati ng malilikom na road user’s tax ay gagamitin para pondohan ang pagbili ng mga imported na mamahaling minibus na target na ipanghalili sa mga dyip na nagkamahalaga ng mahigit P2 milyon isang unit. Duda kami na nasa P2 milyon din ang subsidy kada unit. In fact ay hindi ito klaro sa ipinasang panukala,” she added.
(This means that almost all of the road user’s tax collected would be used to fund the purchase of imported and expensive minibus which is targeted to replace jeepneys. These are worth P2 million per unit. We doubt that the subsidy per unit will be P2 million. In fact this is not clear in the proposal.)
READ: House OKs bill to hike car taxes on 2nd reading
Here are some of the proposed rate of adjustments:
Passenger cars with a gross vehicle weight of up to 1,600 kilograms (kg):
- P2,080 in 2024
- P2,560 in 2025
- P3,040 in 2026
- Five percent increase in 2027
Passenger cars with a gross vehicle weight from 1,600 kg up to 2,300 kg:
- P4,680 in 2024
- P5,760 in 2025
- P6,840 in 2026
- Five percent increase in 2027
Passenger cars with a gross vehicle weight of over 2,300 kg:
- P10,400 in 2024
- P12,800 in 2025
- P15,200 in 2026
- Five percent increase in 2027
Meawhile, utility vehicles would get the following MVRUT rates:
Utility cars with a gross vehicle weight of up to 4,500 kg:
- P1.40 per kg in 2024
- P2.50 per kg in 2025
- P3.40 per kg in 2026
- Five percent increase in 2027