Solon scores taxes on AUVs

Opposition Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta expressed dismay yesterday over the final proposal of Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho to slap excise taxes on Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), saying this would hurt ordinary Filipinos the most.

Oreta issued this statement after Camacho announced on Tuesday that government would raise revenues by imposing excise tax on AUVs, the 10-seater low-cost vehicles popularly known as ‘mega-taxis." Camacho said he would submit this proposal to Congress for approval.

Oreta said she was "disgusted" with the way the "economic dream team" of Malacañang headed by Camacho has been coming up with measures that impose a heavy burden on the masses.

Camacho had earlier proposed to tax text messaging and all cellphone services, a proposal that was also widely criticized.

"Secretary Camacho, instead, should introduce far-reaching reforms to plug loopholes in tax management that lead to a financial hemorrhage of billions of pesos each year," she said.

According to a finance official, the Department of Finance and the Department of Trade and Industry are now finalizing a plan to slap a three-percent excise tax on AUVs priced P600,000 and below, and a 10-percent excise tax on sports utility vehicles (SUVs) with the same price level.

The lifting of the tax exemption on AUVs, according to reports, was meant to plug a revenue leak because some manufacturers and importers pass of luxury vehicles as 10-seater AUVs.

Oreta questioned, however, why low-income and middle-class Filipinos should bear the burden for DOF’s failure to plug this tax leak.

"Secretary Camacho’s plan could not only lead to higher transport fares but also imperil the future of the local automotive industry, which relies heavily on the sale of this type of vehicles that are more affordable to the public," she warned.

In another development, Sen. Ralph Recto said any bill taxing mobile phone messages and voice calls would be "dead on arrival" in the Senate.

Recto, chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means, said the Senate would stick to its "no new taxes" pledge.

"If the government believes that it could get more taxes from the profitable operations of phone firms, then it should resort to administrative means, like seeing to it that these firms do not claim exemptions more than what is allowed by law," Recto stressed.

He said that cellphones are basic utilities, not toys, and should be treated like light and water.