from Manila Bulletin
Ruling party presidential candidate Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. said that he would push for the expansion of the EVAT’s scope which will include products and items that do not affect the poor, and taxes on sin products.
Teodoro also said that he was studying a tax policy that will not raise taxes on the working class since the country’s income taxes “are one of the highest in the region and we cannot adjust those anymore.”
He observed that Philippine corporate taxes are also among highest in region.
At the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) presidential forum Monday, Teodoro said that even improved tax collection efficiency would not be enough to fuel growth and provide safety nets for millions of poor Filipinos.
"It would be nice not to raise new taxes (but) even if we improve tax collection efficiency it may not be enough to fuel growth to help the safety nets required to help the poorest of the poor." said Teodoro, a 1989 Bar topnotcher.
Without taxes, the lifeblood of the state that funds the government's programs especially in times of crisis, the government and social services it provides would grind to a halt, he added.
A crisis is looming with the potential widespread damage to agriculture posed by the El Nino, the weather phenomenon that caused the onset drought that may last until May in the heavily agricultural regions of the country. (Aris Ilagan)
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