Senator Raffy Tulfo on Sunday, July 2 criticized the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) “anti-poor” plan to impose taxes on junk food and other food items next year.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo (Senate PRIB Photo)
Tulfo pointed out it would be the poorest of the poor that heavily rely on these affordable food items would be the most affected.
Instead of these, the senator said the BIR should consider taxing cosmetics and other luxury items.
“Bakit pinagdidiskitahan ng BIR ang mga chichirya at nais nilang patawan ng buwis ang mga ito (Why is the BIR even considering taxing junk food)? This is very anti-poor!” Tulfo said.
“Kung ang pakay nila ay para makalikom ng dagdag kita para sa kaban ng bayan mula sa mga consumer products, bakit ‘di nila punteryahin ang mga luxury items gaya ng mga food supplements, protein bars, energy bars, slimming drinks pati na maging mga cosmetic products (If their goal is to raise more revenue for public funds from consumer products, why don't they target luxury items such as food supplements, protein bars, energy bars, slimming drinks and even cosmetics)?” he pointed out.
Finance Secretary Ben Diokno had said the Department of Finance (DOF) plans to impose a ₱10 per 100 grams or ₱10 per 100 milliliters tax on pre-packaged foods, including confectioneries, snacks, desserts, and frozen confectioneries.
But Tulfo said that if the BIR badly wants to boost public revenue, it should focus train its sights on food supplements and cosmetic products, which are both part of a multi-billion peso industry.
The lawmaker said he believes food supplements and cosmetic products would still be bought by the middle income earners regardless of the price.
On the other hand, Tulfo said the Department of Health’s (DOH) should prompt manufacturers to decrease the sodium content of packaged food.
He said this would be a better alternative that giving approval to the proposed tax measure to supposedly discourage consumers from buying junk food that they said could lead to obesity and diabetes.
According to Tulfo, Singapore manufacturers were able to find low sodium substitute for processed food product without heavily affecting the taste.
