Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 13) — It took a single hearing for the bill raising the taxes on alcoholic beverages to advance to the House plenary.
Invoking Section 48 of the House rules, the Ways and Means committee approved Tuesday the motion to dispose of House Bill 1026 filed by committee chairman and Albay Representative Joey Salceda.
Under Section 48, the committee can approve priority bills which have been passed on third and final reading in the previous Congress if majority of its members wish to do so.
The House approved on third and final reading the same proposal in the 17th Congress. The Senate, however, failed to pass its version.
READ: House OKs bills raising excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol
The bill proposes the imposition of a 22-percent ad valorem tax on the net retail price of the alcoholic beverage and a specific tax of P30 pesos per proof liter.
Under the measure, the tax per proof liter will increase to ₱35 in 2020, ₱40 in 2021, ₱45 in 2022, and by 7 percent annually starting 2023.
The bill also proposes ad valorem and specific taxes on sparkling wines, still and carbonated wines, and fermented liquors.
The Ways and Means committee will prepare a report on the bill and send it to the committee on rules, which will schedule plenary debates for the proposed measure.
Should the bill pass into law, it will be the second time the government raises taxes on alcohol products since the Sin Tax Law took effect six years ago.
The Finance Department has been pushing for the imposition of higher taxes on alcoholic beverages to fund the administration’s priority programs such as the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law.
Based on the agency’s estimates, hiking the tax on alcoholic products will result in additional ₱33.3 billion in revenues for the government next year. This will increase to ₱49.9 billion by 2022.
