The government is still confident revenues from the co-called sin products will continue to support government’s fiscal policy to sustain the proposed Universal Healthcare Program despite a move to impose at least a 12 percent excise tax on digital transactions.
The government has sustained tax collections from sin products despite the pandemic. Collections in 2021 were just slightly down from the previous year, said Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department executive director Novel Bangsal in a webinar organized by the Center for Local Governance and Professional Development Inc. Friday.
Taxes, specifically from tobacco and related products and from alcoholic beverages, fell to P260 billion in 2020 from P273.3 billion in 2019 despite lockdowns, alcohol bans, an unemployment rate peaking at 10.3 percent and the 7.9 percent drop in household consumption.