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Here's why gov't isn't keen on imposing a luxury tax on Pinoys

Philippines | National

Here's why gov't isn't keen on imposing a luxury tax on Pinoys

By Ellson Quismorio

At A Glance

Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno says that a luxury tax won't be imposed in the Philippines anytime soon.

Diamonds (Unsplash)

Imposing a luxury tax may not be worth the trouble in the Philippine setting.

This can be gleaned from statements made by Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno before the House Committee on Appropriations Thursday, Aug. 10, on the first day of the panel's briefings on the P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP).

During the interpellation of Nueva Ecija 3rd district Rep. Ria Vergara, Diokno flat out said: "It's not [being considered]. Luxury tax is not part of our proposal at the moment."

Vergara had asked the finance chief regarding new progressive tax measures that the government was planning to impose in the immediate future.

"You know when you propose a tax, one characteristic, one nice property of a tax is that it should give you a high yield on the tax and administrative cost would be very minimal," Diokno said.

He went on to share what he thought were the challenges to taxing luxury items.

"So you have to consider that say for example if you want to tax diamond, you’re practically not gonna collect anything. Because that is easy to hide and sometimes when you also try to tax, say [a] luxury good, people will just go abroad and buy it there, not here," said Diokno, who is also a former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary.

Attending the appropriations panel's budget briefing Thursday were the members of the Development and Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), which includes both the DOF and DBM.

Related Tags

luxury. national expenditure program Benjamin Diokno

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