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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Consumer group vows to oppose new tax on online sellers, other 'anti-poor' tax measures

Consumer group vows to oppose new tax on online sellers, other 'anti-poor' tax measures

Published May 16, 2023 07:05 am
A consumer group has expressed opposition to the plan of the national government to impose new taxes to online sellers, saying the tax measure will affect a number of Filipinos who rely on online business to survive amid the hardships brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. This developed as the United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) lauded the commitment made by Senator Chiz Escudero to oppose any plan of the government to impose new taxes, including the one percent withholding tax for online sellers. UFCC president RJ Javellana, Jr. said the tax measures is anti-poor and will affect those who depend on the online business for their family.  “On behalf of our group and millions of consumers, we express gratitude to Senator Escudero on his commitment to oppose any additional tax measures. Senator Escudero’s support is a big boost on our fight to oppose new tax measures,” said Javellana. The UFCC earlier has asked the legislators and the online platform providers to take the side of the consumers and protest the BIR’s plan to impose additional taxes to online sellers , riders, freelancers, and other service providers using various e-commerce platforms such as Grab, Gcash, Shopee and Lazada. In a statement yesterday, Escudero branded the one percent creditable withholding tax as an immediate concern. “But more immediate is the BIR plan to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on one-half of the gross remittances of online platform providers to their partner-sellers or merchants,” Escudero’s statement said. If the BIR’s mother agency, the Department of Finance (DOF), pushes through with its planned additional taxes, Escudero vowed to “ask the President to please press the ‘pause’ button.” “We ask President Bongbong Marcos to listen to the Filipino people and fulfill his campaign promise that he would oppose anti-poor taxes,” said Javellana. Meanwhile, another consumer protection advocate Ronald Gustilo of Digital Pinoys movement has joined calls for the BIR to reconsider the planned 1% withholding tax, saying the move will hurt small online sellers the most. “The imposition of 1% withholding tax on e-commerce merchants will hurt small online sellers the most. This is a burden for them and should not be imposed. This digitax will push back the opportunities presented by online selling, which has transformed into the main livelihood of many Filipino families,” Gustilo said. He added: “This new tax may do more harm than good as it will have a chilling effect, especially on micro, small and medium businesses (MSMEs) that maximize digital technology. It will heavily affect the government's digitalization campaign for businesses. We may see lesser digital MSMEs if the additional tax pushes through.” Gustilo advised the government’s revenue collection agency to instead focus its energy on its collection backlog by running after big time tax evaders. “The government should give ample focus on its collection backlog. The people are already overtaxed. They should run after the big time delinquent entities and not after the small businesses,” he stressed. “The people need reprieve, not additional taxes.”
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