Finance chief to prioritize tax reform

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Friday that the Duterte administration would prioritize tax reform and simplify processes at the country’s two biggest tax-collection agencies while spending on programs and projects intended to improve infrastructure and lift more Filipinos out of poverty.

“We need to quickly adjust our tax rates to bring them closer to reality. Our people expect that. It will also be good for business,” Dominguez said at the turnover ceremony held at the Bureau of the Treasury.

Dominguez later told reporters that the Department of Finance would submit to Congress by September a tax reform proposal under which a number of taxes have to be lowered while also reviewing exemptions in value-added tax (VAT) to compensate for foregone revenues from adjusted income tax rates.

At the scheduled Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on July 5, President Duterte’s economic managers will also tackle how to better spend the budget.

“The spending side will be fixed, but the adjustment for the taxes will have to be done through Congress. We cannot adjust the revenue [side] unless [tax reform] is passed by Congress. So the adjustments will be on the spending side, to refocus the spending on the   priorities of the Duterte administration, which [include] bringing up our [infrastructure] spending to 5 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] and spending it more on infrastructure projects in areas outside Metro Manila,” Dominguez said.

In his speech, Dominguez also said they would implement “drastic changes” at the bureaus of Customs and of Internal Revenue.

“The changes have to do with simplification of procedures, improved automation and enhanced trade facilitation. Doing these things will reduce corruption and enable us to serve our clients better. By improving efficiency in these revenue agencies, we will enhance the growth prospects of our economy,” Dominguez said.

The new DOF chief again stressed that the Aquino administration failed to make the robust economic growth enjoyed in the past six years inclusive.

“A major reason why our people decided to vote out the old and vote in a new administration is that certain sense that government has lost touch with our citizens. We save and refuse to spend to shore up our credit ratings—long after it has become unnecessary to do so,” Dominguez said.