House panel OKs travel tax removal
MANILA, Philippines — A House bill abolishing the travel tax yesterday hurdled the ways and means committee, paving the way for a more “progressive and competitive” tax system.
“Today, there are tens of millions of middle-class Filipinos whose voices, together with the poorest of the poor, are too often unheard in policy discussions,” panel chair Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo said during the hearing.
Authored by House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, the bill will repeal Presidential Decree 1183, or the travel tax imposed since 1977, as well as related provisions of the Tourism Act of 2009.
Funding for programs supported by the levy will be provided through the national budget.
Further deliberations on the bill will be undertaken by the House appropriations panel.
Abolishing the travel tax could generate as much as P22 billion in additional economic activities, Quimbo noted.
The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia that continues to impose a travel tax. It was implemented in the late 1970s to tax ultra-wealthy travelers.
At the House hearing, representatives from the Department of Finance and Department of Budget and Management have expressed support for the bill.
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