Senator Chiz Escudero warned the government against introducing new tax measures as they would burden people who have yet to recover from the pandemic.
Escudero said the government should instead boost its fight against corruption, run after tax cheats, and cut unnecessary expenditures.
“Taxation should be the last resort, not the first option. You reduce unnecessary expenses to cancel the need for unreasonable taxes,” the veteran legislator said.
And extracting more taxes from the people is the wrong way to revive an economy hit by a pandemic, the seasoned lawmaker said.
“Paano sila babangon, kung hihilahin sila pababa ng bagong buwis?”
“Paano sila babangon, kung hihilahin sila pababa ng bagong buwis? Choked by the pandemic, the last thing they deserve is to be choked by taxes this time,” the senator said.
Rising inflation also provides the “wrong timing” to hike taxes, he pointed out. “Because it reduces purchasing power, may kasabihan ng na ‘inflation is a form of taxation imposed without legislation’.”
“Adding high taxes to high prices of goods is like pouring gasoline on fire,” Escudero stressed.
He described the last six years as a “very taxing season as a train, or a TRAIN, of revenues was passed”.
“Government,” Escudero said, “should not reward our people’s tax obedience with more taxes or that would be a form of compliance punishment.”
“If new tax proposals are being assembled, I would ask the President to please press the ‘pause’ button,” he said.
Reports quote the Department of Finance as saying the Marcos administration would push for new and higher taxes on sugary drinks, motor vehicles, among others.
The DOF estimates that three proposed taxes alone could generate P81.9 billion annually in its first year of implementation.
But more immediate is the BIR plan to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on one-half of the gross remittances of online platform providers to their partner-sellers or merchants.
“Instead of new taxes, the government should improve collection efficiency and curb corruption.”
Asked by a netizen on his stand on this and other tax proposals, Escudero, in a reply on his Twitter account, said, “I do not and will not support any bill that will impose new taxes. Instead of new taxes, the government should improve collection efficiency and curb corruption.”
In previous interviews, he has consistently maintained his stand against new taxes, offering instead alternatives the government should first explore.
“In addition to what I have proposed, we can sell non-performing assets that cost money to maintain. We should have more public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure,” Escudero said.
“We should also be careful in accepting loan proposals. We do not just take hook-line-sinker each and every ODA which comes our way,” he concluded.
