Trillanes wary of sin tax hike benefits

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The House version of the Sin Tax Reform Bill discriminates against lower-tier alcohol and tobacco products, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said Tuesday.

In a statement, Trillanes expressed his support for the Aquino administration’s initiative for higher taxes on so-called “sin” products but added that such increases should be tempered by concerns over the protection of industry workers and over increased smuggling.

“We need to ensure that the system that would be implemented is fair and that the cost would not be so exorbitant that it would cause the market to slump and encourage the entry of illegal cigarettes,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes said that the House version of the sin tax increases is based only on one classification and similar rates would be leveled on all products regardless of quality and price.

“This system is discriminatory against lower-tier products and could only favor foreign brands,” Trillanes said.

The Senate committee on ways and means is scheduled to resume consideration of the sin tax reform measure tomorrow.

The committee, in its previous hearing, asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue to provide data identifying which companies would pay how much to realize the P60 billion it intends to generate as a result of its proposed increase in taxes on the consumption of tobacco and alcohol.

Sen. Ralph Recto, the chairman of the Senate panel hearing tax measures, expressed fears that the more than P70 billion in taxes now being collected from the so-called sin products would even be affected adversely if the proposed increases under the administration-backed tax bills prove to be too high. Norman Bordadora