Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda has filed House Bill 4688 proposing simpler tax system that aims to boost annual gross domestic product growth to 9 percent.
Salceda said HB 4688, also known as Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or Train, aimed to be a centerpiece program that would “ultimately reduce poverty to single digit, grow the economy by 9 percent and transform the Philippines into an Asian economic powerhouse by 2028, with $1.2 trillion gross domestic product.”
“It will then qualify the country for membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development by [2028],” he said.
“This is the Train of the Duterte Express, which I committed to file during the Philippine Development Forum in Davao last November with the participation of non-government agencies, civil society organizations, official development assistance ODA partners and LGUs,” Salceda said.
House Bill 4688 aims “to create a tax system that is simpler, fairer and more efficient, characterized by low rates and a broad base that promotes investment, job creation and poverty reduction.”
Salceda said the bill would run in parallel with President Rodrigo Duterte’s “Tunay na Pagbabago” or real positive change commitment to the Filipino people, that includes more inclusive growth and comfortable life for all, improved public services, more and better jobs and more money in the people’s pockets; and safe, healthy and peaceful communities.
The measure is a concrete step in making tax rates on income in the Philippines competitive in the region and fit the structural objective of the Asean Economic Community, he said.
It seeks the “full and immediate adjustment of personal income tax in the first year,” Salceda said.
“The PIT income bracket is one of the most horrific and protracted social injustices” confronting Filipinos,” he said.