Congress acknowledges ‘deafening cries’ vs ‘regressive VAT’ on toll fees

Congress acknowledges ‘deafening cries’ vs ‘regressive VAT’ on toll fees

“It’s really ridiculous that the people are already paying for the cost of constructing roads and on top of that paying for taxes on their payments.” – former Rep. Renato Diaz, consultant when the VAT law was crafted 17 years ago
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Does silence mean yes? Is it wise to assume that what is not expressly excluded is perhaps legally included? Did the Supreme Court over-extend itself when it approved the Value–Added Tax (VAT) on toll fees, even if it was not expressly stated in law?

These and other questions were probed in a meeting of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means Tuesday, which decided to approve and consolidate the pending bills here seeking to explicitly exclude from the scope of Value-Added Tax the fees on toll roads. The Senate already has a matching bill. “We’re just awaiting the bill of the House of Representatives,” said Sen. Ralph Recto.

Former Rep. Renato Diaz, consultant when the VAT law was crafted 17 years ago, told the committee on ways and means that the law does not provide for the imposition of VAT on toll fees. “It’s not true the SC decision mandates the BIR to implement VAT on toll fees. That is misleading.” Diaz explained that it is “the decision of the executive if they would press ahead with imposing the VAT on toll fees or not.”

The Supreme Court decision, which is being used by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as basis for levying a VAT on toll fees this October, has prompted moves in the two chambers of Congress to craft a “simple” law explicitly excluding toll fees from VAT coverage.

Members of TutolSlex urged the public to press Congress and Aquino to exempt toll fees from VAT. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

A few days after the VAT began to be imposed on toll fees, motorists, commuters and peoples’ groups are still protesting the decision. They have been calling on the public to put pressure on the country’s legislators and the president to stop the “regressive tax” and “double taxation.”

The Taxpayers’ Unity vs Toll Hikes (Tutol Slex), for example, continues to conduct protest actions in the toll booths and in Congress as they urged lawmakers to pass House Bill 5303, authored by Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño. The bill seeks to explicitly exempt from VAT coverage the fees on toll roads.

On Tuesday, too, members of TutolSlex urged the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order on collecting VAT on toll fees.


A commuters’ group, the National Council for Commuters’ Protection, and a transport group (Piston), also expressed in Congress their strong opposition to VAT on toll fees, as well as to VAT in general and excessive toll fee increases in particular..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111005com4.html