President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. backed a proposal to impose higher taxes on luxury or nonessential goods to help boost government revenue collections.
“So, palagay ko naman (I think), it’s reasonable that we will tax the consumption side of those consuming luxury items,” Marcos said on the sidelines of the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) event at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City Tuesday.
To date, Section 150 of the National Internal Revenue Code imposes a 20-percent tax on the price of jewelry, perfumes and yachts.
House Bill 6993 proposes to raise the tax to 25 percent. It also seeks to impose a 25 percent tax on wristwatches, bags, wallets and belts worth over P50,000; the sale of real property valued at over P100,000 per square meter; beverages above P20,000 per bottle; antiques worth more than P100,000; paintings over P1 million; and brand new or secondhand automobiles worth more than P10 million.
Marcos expressed support for the proposed measure, as he stressed the need to expand the coverage of tax imposition to more luxury items.
“I think right now the tax on luxury goods only covers very specific items and luxury goods as those who have put in some study on this know hindi nagbabago ang demand dyan kahit anong sitwasyon (that the demand never changes, whatever the situation may be),” he said.
“For the rest of us who are not necessarily consumers of luxury goods ay randam natin kapag bumagsak ang ekonomiya. Ngunit kung titignan ninyo, ‘yung luxury items, mga magagarang kotse, mga designer na damit at saka mga bag lahat, hindi nagbabago ang presyo niyan dahil may kaya ang mga bumibili (we can feel if there is an economic recession. However, the prices of luxury items, including luxury cars, designer bags and clothes remain constant because the rich can afford them),” Marcos added.