New alcohol tax stamps out by January

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance is planning to roll out by January new tax stamps for alcoholic products.

In an interview, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is targeting to issue by January 2018 the guidelines on the Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System (IRSIS) for alcoholic products.

However, Tionko said the government would give manufacturers and distributors of imported alcoholic drinks and distilled spirits sufficient time from the date of the issuance to redesign their products to accommodate the tax stamps.

“The target date for the issuance is January 2018. But our thinking is between the middle of the year, the manufacturers will be given sufficient time to reengineer their products so it will match with the design of the stamp,” Tionko said.

Tionko said the government would conduct consultations with different stakeholders on the design of the stamps, size, the excise tax payment and possible exemptions from the tax stamp.

According to Tionko, the tax stamps on alcoholic products would be more complicated than cigarette products as they do not have a unitary excise tax rate.

“It’s not like the cigarette where you have one rate. They have different rates for different brew, alcohol content, whether it’s fermented or distilled, so it’s really more complex than that,” she said.

Tionko said a memorandum of agreement with APO Production Unit Inc. and the corresponding terms of reference for the printing of the tax stamps are also being finalized by the DOF and the BIR.

She said the government is targeting to sign the MOA by the third week of November.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the strengthened implementation of the IRSIS is one of the tax administration measures to optimize revenue collection and plug the leakages in the tax system.