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Friday, March 29, 2024

Tax measure to remove housing perk

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The proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion under the Senate committee on ways and means chaired by Senator Sonny Angara will remove the VAT-exemptions currently given to socialized, economic and low-cost housing units which cost P450,000 to P3.2 million per unit.

Rodolfo Javellana Jr. of the Union of Filipino Consumers and Commuters expressed fear that this “spells bad news for the 15 million overseas Filipinos workers trying to earn a decent living away from their families and the rest of our kababayans planning to buy their own homes.”

Javellana said in a statement that with the current prices for socialized, economic and low-cost housing, even workers with a take home pay of P30,000 a month could barely afford a decently sized house and lot.  

“If Senate will agree to increase housing prices to anywhere from P50,000 to 360,000 per unit by imposing VAT, our OFWs and homeless citizens can say goodbye to their dreams of owning a piece of property for their families,” he said, underscoring that buyers will take the full brunt of the tax burden as VAT is an after-sales tax. 

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Javellana said that the burden would also extend beyond 12 percent as housing loans for these amounts could only be afforded through long-term loans by the homebuyers.

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