Tag: DOF

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Making Noise on the 2025 Budget Makes Sense After All

If there is one amendment in the 2025 GAA that is worth mentioning, Congress has rectified a legally flawed provision under the 2024 GAA by deleting Special Provision (d) under the Unprogrammed Appropriations which allowed the executive branch to realign “excess PhilHealth funds” to the National Treasury.

This bars the Department of Finance from gobbling up PhilHealth funds in 2025. This may have also rendered the pending SC petitions on this particular issue moot and academic.

Making noise makes sense after all.

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Utang, Gamitin sa Tama!

Ayon sa Department of Finance: ang utang ay isa sa pinakamabisang paraan na ginagamit ng mga bansa upang mas mapabilis ang paglago ng ekonomiya at umasenso ang bawat mamamayan.

TAMA! Kung gagamitin sa TAMA.

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On DOF Getting Netflix’s Support for VAT on Digital Services

Thank you, Ralph for making what was almost impossible for the Philippines to accomplish a few years ago almost possible under your watch.

Being able to actually tax Netflix is just one of several steps to take, though. Just imagine if we could tax all the others…

To both instant bashers and sober observers: Unfortunately, yes – if DOF succeeds in capturing Netflix, YouTube Premium, Premium X and other foreign online digital services for VAT purposes, the same will be passed on to us, subscribers.

That said, I am looking at the income tax to be collected in case they have local offices and distributors based here. Better to collect than not at all.

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On Meeting 2024 Revenue Targets

We can truly celebrate if revenues are equal to expenditures. Assuming the other half of our revenue target of P4.27 trillion is achieved in the second semester, with a 2024 national budget of P5.767 trillion, our budget deficit this year is still huge at P1.5 trillion.

I am aware that debt and deficit are a given in all economies. The US, for example is drowning in debt with US$34T (121% of GDP) and Japan (255%) but their toll-free multi-level highways and other public infra as well as their social services are far better and more efficient.

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Pagbaba ng VAT Rate at Pag-alis ng Exemptions, Itinulak ni Ping Para Makalikom ng Pondo ang Gobyerno Para Bayaran ang Utang

Itinulak ni Sen. Ping Lacson ang pagbaba ng rate ng Value-Added Tax (VAT) at pagtanggal ng exemptions dito para makalikom ng pondo ang gobyerno na hindi dadagdag sa pabigat sa ordinaryong Pilipino.

Ayon kay Lacson, kung nasunod lang ang formula na isinulong niya noon pang 2018, maaari nang lumikom ng hindi bababa sa P117 bilyon kada taon na dagdag na tax revenues kahit na binaba ang VAT rate sa 10 percent mula sa kasalukuyang 12 percent.

“The Department of Finance should have adopted my proposal when Congress was deliberating on Train 1. We could have earned at least P117 billion in additional tax revenues in 2018 alone, even with a reduced VAT rate from 12% to 10%, by removing 78 lines of exemption from some sectors such as the power sector, cooperatives, housing, and economic zones,” ani Lacson, matapos mapaulat na isusulong ng Department of Finance sa susunod na administrasyon ang pagtanggal ng VAT exemption para makalikom ng P142.5 bilyon kada taon. Ang pondo diumano ay gagamitin para bayaran ang utang ng bansa.

Related: Lowering VAT Rate, Cutting Exemptions: Lacson Pushes Formula to Shore Up Revenues
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