Binay says he supports lower income tax rates

Vice President Jejomar Binay said he backed the moves to lower the income tax rate and adjust it to inflation.

During the “Kapihan at Pandesal” forum in Quezon city on Tuesday, Binay told a handful of businessmen and reporters of his socio-economic programs, which include tax reform and an improved public-private partnership (PPP).

He said he does not want a situation when poorer workers would pay the same amount of taxes as millionaires.

“Our tax system must be seen as fair—meaning, those with fat pay checks (should) pay higher taxes than those whose pay checks are less—and inflation-adjusted tax brackets, even if it will result in short-term reduction of tax revenues, is only just,” Binay said.

He cited a study by the Management Association of the Philippines which said those who earn P500,000 yearly pay 32 percent income tax, the highest in Asia.

He said even when there are 17 pending bills for tax reform in Congress, he expects none to pass.

“Kung hahayaan natin ito at hindi tayo kikilos na ma-amyendahan ang sistema ng pagbubuwis sa bansa, darating ang araw na ang tax rate ng mga guro, pulis, sundalo, at nars ay sintaas na ng tax rate ng mga milyonaryo sa bansa,” Binay said.

Binay also said he would push for lower corporate income tax to encourage foreign investments in the country.

“We also aim to gradually reduce the current corporate income tax rate from 30% to a realistic and reasonable rate consistent with our ASEAN peers… We believe that lower corporate income tax will eventually draw more foreign investments, resulting in more jobs and revenues for the government,” Binay said.

Binay took a different position from President Benigno Aquino III, who said he is not entirely convinced a lower income tax rate would benefit Filipinos.

Aquino said a lower income tax may result in lower revenues and wider deficit, which would affect the country’s investment grade status.

READ: Aquino not keen on cutting taxes

The vice president also scored the lapses and gaps in the administration’s infrastructure projects under the PPP program.

He said some PPP projects are stalled because of “paralysis by analysis.”

“Gaps in infrastructure and power supply should also be addressed, particularly by immediately implementing public-private partnership programs that have not been acted upon due to paralysis by analysis,” Binay said.

He said he supports the amendments to the build-operate-transfer (BOT) law to make PPP projects “immune” from local ordinances such as local taxation and business registration.

Binay said an amended BOT law would speed up construction of PPP projects particularly infrastructure to help decongest Metro Manila traffic.

The presidential aspirant in 2016 also vowed to completely fix the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT) and the horrendous traffic in Edsa through enforcement, infrastructure, and education of traffic rules.

“We will address the long-festering traffic problem by utilizing other modes of public transport such as the Pasig ferry system, and fix existing modes of transport-particularly the trains so that commuters will choose to ride them instead of using private vehicles. The building of a subway along Edsa, as well as extending the railways to provinces outside Metro Manila, will also be acted on,” Binay said.

“The MRT, which has served along with the debilitating traffic jams at Edsa and other main thoroughfares as the poster boy of this administration’s ineptness and insensitivity to the plight of the working class, shall be thoroughly rehabilitated,” he added. JE