National Economic and Defense Authority (NEDA) Director General Ernesto Pernia is urging lawmakers to approve up to the third reading this week the proposed tax reform package.
The measure was submitted to both houses of Congress by the Department of Finance.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, Pernia said, “Congress should vote on the first package of the tax reform before going on a break.”
He is concerned that “without tax reform, gross domestic product will be lower.”
President Rodrigo Duterte has certified the bill as urgent.
This means that once House Bill Number 5636 on tax reform is passed on second reading, lawmakers need not observe the three-day interval for it to be approved again on third reading.
Prior to Duterte’s certification of the measure as urgent, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was planning to get the bill approved only up to second reading before the House of Representatives adjourns this week.
Congress is set to resume sessions on July 24, 2017.
Among the provisions in the tax reform package of the Duterte administration is the reduction of the maximum rate of personal income tax from 32% to 25%.
