Second round of sin tax hikes seen to generate P61.3-B revenue by 2020

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) said the government may get an additional P61.3 billion revenues in the second round of sin tax hikes proposed under its comprehensive tax reform program.
“For 2020, estimated revenues from cigarettes and alcohol are P61.3 billion, and by 2021, P77.6 billion and increasing for the future,” Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II told reporters.
Higher excise tax rates for alcohol and tobacco products are part of the government’s comprehensive tax reform package under “Package 2+.”
For alcohol excise tax, the DoF seeks to gradually raise excise tax rates for alcohol and tobacco beginning 2020 and until 2023, and increasing them further by 10% thereafter, according to Mr. Lambino.
Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, the tobacco excise tax would increase up to by P40 per pack by 2022.
The DoF earlier reported that taxes collected from tobacco and alcohol products reached P112.46 billion in the first six months of the year, surging 41.38% from the P79.5 billion it collected in the same six months in 2017 — beating the P77.54 billion target by 45.03%. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan