House panel okays bill seeking to raise tax on cigarettes

LEGAZPI CITY— The House of Representatives’s ways and means comittee has approved House Bill 4575 which seeks to increase the tax imposed on cigarettes, Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda said Thursday.

Salceda, the author of the bill, said that if the bill becomes law, the tax on cigarettes will be raised to P35 per pack starting this year.

This is expected to be raised further to P37.50 per pack in 2019 and is expected to contribute an additional P8 billion revenue to the government.

Salceda said that by 2020, the tax on cigarettes will have been raised to P40 per pack, which will result in a P16-billion revenue for the government.

By 2021, the tax for every pack of cigarettes will be P41.50. The government is expecting to bring in P23 billion in revenues by then.

By 2022, the tax will be increased to P45 per pack, and this is expected to contribute P32 billion in government revenues. /ee