Drilon confident sin tax bill to be submitted to Aquino before yearend

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Franklin Drilon said that he was confident the sin tax bill would be submitted to President Benigno Aquino III for his approval before the end of the year.

Drilon, the principal sponsor of the measure, told reporters after the passage of the sin tax bill with a vote of 15-2 that he would next be preparing for the bicameral conference between the House of Representatives and Senate.

The sin tax bill went through deliberations and eventually had achieved the “sweet spot” after negotiations with his fellow senators on the tax rates, Drilon said.

“We are happy that we were able to pass the sin tax bill on third reading today. The target of P40 billion per year is achieved and the target burden sharing of 60-40 is maintained from 2013 to 2017,” he said.

The bill seeks to collect P40 billion in additional revenues from an increase in taxes on tobacco and liquor products. The total amount to be collected will be split 60-40 or P24 billion from cigarettes and P16 billion from liquor products.

There will be a three-tier system on the low-, medium-, and high-priced cigarettes. The prices of cigarettes in the three tiers will be raised in increments per year until it reaches a unitary tax rate of P26 pesos per pack on all cigarette products by 2016, he said.

Drilon said he would have wanted a unitary tax of P30 per pack “but the reality is this is a collegial body and we have to get their votes.”