The Department of Finance and Department of Health are pushing to tax liquor products much higher than what the House had already proposed in December.
Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said during a Senate hearing on Wednesday that their proposed liquor tax hike — with rates much higher than what is proposed under House Bill 8618 — will generate an additional ₱32 billion for the government in 2019.
Chua said this will plug the ₱40 billion funding gap in the first year of the implementation of the Universal Healthcare Law.
He said the incremental increases in these taxes will net the government ₱40 billion in 2020 and ₱47 billion in 2021.
The tax measure is also a health measure, Chua said, as it would effectively discourage alcohol consumption and keep the youth and the poor from buying it.
If approved this year, fermented liquors, like beer, will be taxed ₱40 per liter in 2019, which will gradually increase to ₱55 in 2022.
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/02/06/higher-liquor-tax-health-finance-department.html?fbclid=IwAR0UTsZ1iMmBPjz15gQwTOsQm0Ibk5-0290YKi-4obC2DbKA31C0sc0SVd0
