Palace to study VAT on toll

Malacañang said Saturday it would weigh the merits of a transport group’s proposal that President Aquino block the collection of value-added taxes on expressway tolls and ease the burden on motorists, commuters and the general public.

The Palace offered hope of no further hikes in highway tolls after the Supreme Court on July 19 lifted a temporary restraining order it issued last year stopping the Bureau of Internal Revenue from collecting a 12-percent VAT from toll operators.

Operators of the major expressways announced on Friday that the tribunal’s decision left them with “no choice” but to pass onto consumers the VAT once the government begins collecting it.

Told that the public transport organization Piston was asking the President to stop the collection of the VAT, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the suggestion would be looked into.

“I think it is something that has to be considered and has to be studied,” Valte said over state-run radio station dzRB.

“Palace lawyers are waiting for the copy of the high court’s decision so that we can study it and give the necessary advice to the President,” she added. Norman Bordadora