AnaKalusugan Party-list believes lowering the Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) on Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) lottery tickets and horse racing bets will benefit Filipinos in need by bringing in additional funds to PCSO’s charity fund for medical assistance.
According to AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray T. Reyes, cutting the DST to 10 percent from the current 20 percent will boost the total funds available for PCSO’s Medical Access Program.
The lawmaker said that for 2024, PCSO is estimating that P14 billion will be spent on DST and only P1.68 billion will be used for beneficiaries of the Medical Access Program.
“Based on figures from PCSO, madadagdagan ng 4 billion ang kanilang charity fund for medical assistance dahil sa pagbabawas ng DST,” he said.
Reyes said PCSO’s charity fund reached P18.3 billion last year but noted that 67 percent or P12.2 billion went to DST.
“Sa mga pagdinig namin sa Kongreso, napagalaman namin na malaking posryento sa charity fund ng PSCO ang kinakain ng DST,”he said.
“Dahil dito, tinatayang 11 percent lamang o P2 bilyon ang nailagay sa Medical Access Program ng PCSO noong nakaraang taon,” he added.
The lawmaker said that for 2024, PCSO is estimating that P14 billion will be spent on DST and only P1.68 billion will be used for beneficiaries of the Medical Access Program.
“This is why we are proposing a tax reduction. Once approved, we are expecting an additional P3 billion will be added to the program, giving it a total of P4.9 billion,” he added.
Reyes is one of the authors of House Bill No. 9277 or the proposed Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act, which seeks to amend the Tax Code by reducing taxes on stock transactions from 0.6 percent to just 0.1 percent of stock value.
The proposed measure is also pushing for a reduction in PCSO’s DST obligations from 20 percent to 10 percent.
It was recently approved on the third reading in Congress with 270 affirmative votes, three negative votes, and one abstention.
