TAX REFORM. Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II (center) says they are hopeful for the passage of additional tax reform packages this year. Lambino updated participants of the Municipal Treasurers’ Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MUNTAP, Inc.) on the Comprehensive Tax Reform Package on Tuesday (Sept. 17, 2019) as part of the activities for their annual convention and seminar-workshop held in this city. (PNA photo by Perla G. Lena)
ILOILO CITY -- The Municipal Treasurers’ Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MUNTAP, Inc.) is supportive of the comprehensive tax reform package (CTRP), particularly package 3, which is on real property valuation reform.
In a press conference on the sidelines of the three-day MUNTAP, Inc. annual convention and seminar-workshop, to end on Friday here, Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II said that package 3 is at the committee level at the House of Representatives.
The package intends to address the “multiple valuations” for real property by establishing a “comprehensive and up-to-date database of all real property transactions and prices of all materials for buildings, machinery, and other structures.”
“We want an internationally accepted standard for valuation as our basis,” Lambino said.
He added that once the law is passed, the valuation will no longer be politicized because it is the Department of Finance (DOF) that will approve the schedule of market valuation (SMV).
The assessor’s office of the local government unit (LGU) will submit the proposed assessment to the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), which in turn will endorse the document to the DOF.
The Local Government Code provides for LGUs to update their SMV every three years. At present, only 36.6 percent of the LGUs in the country have updated SMV.
Lambino added that the package opens an opportunity for LGUs to collect more. He cited that the schools can benefit because 1 percent of the real property tax (RPT) goes to the school special education fund (SEF).
MUNTAP executive vice president Martiniano D. Javier from Baliuag, Bulacan said that in the case of municipalities, 50 percent of the 1 percent share from the RPT will go to the province, while the remaining half will be retained at the municipal level.
“If there is a single valuation, then there will be no confusion. We will just have one direction and it would be easier to set a target or collectibles,” Javier said.
Meanwhile, aside from package 3, Lambino said three out of four packages have been passed on the third and final reading at the House of Representatives and will soon be deliberated by the Senate.
These include package 2 or the corporate income tax and incentives reform; package 2 plus or the second tranche of the Sin tax reform for alcohol and e-cigarettes; and package 4 or passive income and financial intermediary tax reform.
Lambino said the passage of the law is a priority of the Senate ways and means committee, chaired by Senator Pia Cayetano.
He added that three packages of the CTRP were passed by the 17th Congress and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte. These included the TRAIN Law, Partial Tax Amnesty Law, and the first tranche of Package 2, which is the Sin Tax Reform Package for tobacco products.
Lambino added that the DOF is hopeful for the passage of packages 2 and 2+ of the CTRP this year even as they are also open to “being surprised” if packages 3 and 4 will also be enacted.
Javier lauded the Duterte administration as he stated that the government is “concerned” with the condition of the marginal sector.
“For us treasurers, it is not enough that we collect taxes. We should also empathize with people who are paying taxes. What our government is doing -- reducing tax rates -- in (the) final analysis will benefit more because the purpose of taxation is to be just and equitable,” he said. (PNA)
