Rep. Hermilando Mandanas (2nd District, Batangas), said at least P200 million will not be collected for everyday delay in passing and implementing pending bills in Congress. The committee hearings will be on restructuring the excise tax on cigarette and alcohol products; anti-smuggling proposals; foreign debt management; use of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds; and non-tax revenue collection of department offices and their attached agencies.
"The Committee plans to conduct hearings during the duration of the sine die adjournment for the period June 13 until July 21, 2011 on these priority measures which shall pave the way in raising at least P100 billion in additional tax revenue for the government," said Rep. Mandanas.
He said the Committee on Ways and Means has investigated numerous smuggling issues and revenue leaks anomalies that have resulted in billions of losses for the government. Bills that can generate another P100 billion have already passed the Committee, and awaiting plenary debates as Congress closes this week.
These investigations include the entry of "hot cars" and motorcycles from the United States by a certain Lynard Allan Bigcas allegedly through the various ports in Mindanao. The panel also probed into the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s plan to affix internal revenue stamps, whether bar codes or fusion design, on each pack of cigars and cigarettes subject to excise tax. It also determined the status of the controversial Sicpatrace unsolicited proposal to affix tamper-proof strip stamps on tobacco products, which the BIR has definitely junked according to agency officials.
On the Committee's campaign to increase revenue collection and reform the graft prone tax system, Rep. Mandanas said the panel tackled the issue on official debt management. Records from the Bureau of Treasury show the total debt stood at P4.655 Trillion of which 43% or P1.991 Trillion is owed to foreign creditors while 57% or P2.664 Trillion to domestic creditors according to him.
"The more deficit we incur, the more we have to borrow and more interest to pay. We have to address all these issues soonest so as not to adversely affect our credit standing, the investments coming in and our job creation program," he added.
On the smuggling front, Chairman Mandanas said that P200 billion worth of revenues are lost due to outright or technical smuggling. He emphasized the need to improve the anti-smuggling mechanism of the government by providing for advance transmission and publication of cargo manifests and bill of lading to the Bureau of Customs, conduct of physical examination of goods, proper assessment of value of goods, periodic audits of customs bonded warehouse and deployment of several X-ray machines.
On pending excise tax proposals, Rep. Mandanas stressed that the government is incurring losses of P200 million daily for every day of delay in the adjustment of excise tax rates on cigarettes and alcohol products.
Source: http://www.congress.gov.ph
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