A comprehensive tax reform program will help the Philippines become an upper middle-income economy by 2040, according to a top official of the National Economic and Development Authority.
Neda deputy director-general Rosemarie Edillon said during a joint forum with the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines that tax reforms would boost Filipinos’ aspirations over the next 25 years.
Neda presented “AmBisyon Natin 2040,” which represents the collective long-term vision and aspirations of the Filipino people for themselves and for the country for the next 25 years.
A survey by Neda showed that 79.2 percent of 10,000 respondents aspired for a simple and comfortable life. A small segment or 16.9 percent of the respondents aspired for an affluent life, while 3.9 percent said they wanted to be rich.
Simple and comfortable life, according to the respondents, means that they own a car; have enough money for day-to-day needs; own a medium-sized home; earning enough; all their children are college-educated; relax with family and friends; are business owners; and are able to take occasional trips around the country.
“We already presented in the executive technical board of DBCC [Development Budget Coordination Committee] the comprehensive tax reform program. It doesn’t have to be radical all at once,” said Edillon.
Edillon said the proposed tax reform program would be a strategy to improve Philippine competitiveness, promote equity and efficiency. She said new measures such as Tax Incentive Management and Transparency Act and the Customs Modernization Act would help increase the government’s revenue collection.
“These are all in terms of revenue positive measure. What we can probably look now is on the collection side. We still have some revenue-positive legislation and aim for revenue-neutral measure,” she said.