Umapela ang mga kongresista sa Senado na bilisan ang pagpasa ng panukalang amyendahan ang Sin Tax law upang maproteksyunan ang lokal na industriya ng tabako.
Ayon kay House deputy minority leader at Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza ang mga lokal na magsasaka ng tabako ay apektado ng pagpasok ng imported na tabako.
“Once upon a time, we were the number one cigar manufacturer, but we killed our own cigar industry by a series of measures which ostensibly would have helped them, but otherwise killed. The cigar industry now making a lot of money all over the world, but without the Philippine brands being able to compete,” ani Atienza.
Inaprubahan na ng Kamara de Representantes ang panukalang patawan ng mas mataas na buwis ang mga premium na sigarilyo.
“I hoping that our good senators will also do their part to protect the local tobacco famers from unfair business practice favoring multinational companies by immediately deliberating and approving the proposed amendments to the Sin tax Reform Act,” saad ng solon.
Sinabi ni House committee on ways and means at Quirino Rep. Dax Cua na makadaragdag sa kita ng gobyerno ang pagbabagong gagawin sa pagbubuwis sa gobyerno.
“We see that this measure will bring about additional revenues to the government, and perhaps, since it proposes a higher rate or excise tax on tobacco, as compared to the scheduled rate in 2017, we hope that it also addresses or further improves the law’s ability to curb smoking or the prevalence of smoking,” ani Cua.
ABS Rep. Eugene Michael de Vera, may-akda ng panukala, mapoproteksyunan ng panukala mga lokal na magsasaka dahil ang ginagamit na tabako ng mga mahal na brand ay imported.
Sa ilalim ng panukala, ang mga premium brand ay papatawan ng P36 buwis kada pakete at P32 naman ang mas murang brand. Sa kasalukuyan ang ipapataw na buwis ay parehong P30.
“If the law is not amended, this would not prevent consumers from buying high prized cigarettes because the prize disparity between the high priced and low prized cigarettes would be minimal,” ani de Vera.