Solon cool to taxing cosmetic procedures

The Senate proposal to slap a 20-percent excise tax on cosmetic procedures has been met with lukewarm reception from the chair of the House ways and means committee.

“This is just my personal view and not the official view, but I think there’s more to the issue of cosmetic procedures [than cost],” Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua said in a radio interview.

Cua noted that not only wealthy people would get cosmetic procedures done on their faces or bodies.

“Getting a procedure helps raise a person’s self-esteem. It elevates their confidence level,” he said.

Cua cited the need for further study on the viability of the Senate proposal.

“My committee will consult legal luminaries to determine if this is feasible. If it is, we will study it further and keep discussing it,” he added.

Under Senate Bill No. 1592, the chamber’s version of the tax reform package, nonessential goods and services, including cosmetic procedures, shall be levied a 20-percent excise tax.

That provision is absent in House Bill No. 5636, the House version of the tax reform for acceleration and inclusion measure.

The House approved the bill in May on third reading.

The tax reform bill seeks to lower personal income tax rates but raises taxes on some commodities and services, including fuels and sweetened beverages.

A bicameral conference committee will reconcile differences between the Senate and House measures, once the former has passed its own version on third reading.