Implementation of tax stamps for alcoholic drinks to start in 2018

Early next year, the government will start tighter monitoring of the excise taxes being paid by manufacturers as well as importers of distilled spirits and alcoholic drinks by affixing tax stamps similar to that on cigarettes.

In the case of tobacco products, the Bureau of Internal Revenue will introduce a cigarette tax stamp with a new design and better security features by October this year to combat the proliferation of fakes, officials said.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the implementation of the Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System (Irsis) on alcoholic drinks would likely begin in early 2018.

Last January, Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay said the upcoming implementation of Irsis for alcohol and distilled spirits would ensure the collection of correct excise taxes on distilled spirits and wines and curb the illicit trade of alcohol products in the country.

Dulay told a House ways and means committee hearing last Tuesday that the BIR was already circulating to stakeholders a draft revenue regulation (RR) that would implement the Irsis on alcohol.

“We also sent the draft RR to the Department of Finance so we can coordinate to ensure that this will be in sync with the comprehensive tax reform program,” Dulay told legislators.

But Dulay said the BIR had yet to conduct a public hearing on the measure.

Also, Dulay said that state-run printer APO Production Unit Inc. had yet to determine the cost of the tax stamp, a reason for the delay in implementation.

Even as consultations with stakeholders, especially domestic manufacturers and importers, started in 2015, BIR Assistant Commissioner Teresita M. Angeles said the costing of stamps remained an unresolved issue.

In the case of cigarette tax stamps, which had been counterfeited by unscrupulous firms, Angeles said the BIR would release new stamps to replace the compromised design.

“Commissioner Dulay already approved the new stamp design. We’re planning to release them in coordination with APO in October,” Angeles disclosed. —BEN O. DE VERA