MANILA, Philippines?Faced by a huge public deficit, the incoming Aquino administration should either raise taxes or reverse tax breaks that have been approved by Congress.

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said the first one and a half years of a new administration would be the ?best time? to implement tax measures because everyone, including Congress, tend to be ?open? to such proposals.

Beltran cited the fact that the Arroyo administration was able to get the Reformed Value Added Tax measure within a year after it came to power. Ditto for the administration of former President Fidel Ramos which on its second year of office was able to get higher penalties for tax evasion.

?I hope they won?t (miss the opportunity),? he told reporters.

Among he said the tax measures that the new government could push included excise tax reforms?sin tax and excise tax on petroleum products (which could generate P40 billion); rationalization of fiscal incentives, P10 billion ; and then the Simplied Net Income Tax System, P5 billion.

He said if the government will not raise taxes, it could opt to improving tax administration or collection. But he admitted this would require some time to achieve and in the meantime the government is faced with mounting expenses for infrastructure repair, among other things.

Beltran said the real problem was that Congress approved too many tax breaks, saying that tax breaks cost the government P62 billion last year and will cost it another P46 billion this year.

?That?s P108 billion. (The tax breaks) are too much. If we want to reverse all of these tax breaks, we?ll be OK. We are back to the usual,? he said.

There would be no need to raise taxes because that would mean P100 billion additional money for government, Beltran added.