E-VAT is approved with Finality by SC

[tolstoi]

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Kanus-a man ang buhis nakatabang sa mga tawo? Diritso ra man na sa bulsa ni Mike Arroyo.

Storya nako drayber ganina pwerti gyud niya laguta ni GMA. Tikasan pa kuno, kawatan pa, grabe pa jud mo impose ug buwis.

Ako siya gi-ingnan unsaon noy wala naman kwarta GMA i bribe sa mga generals, bishops, media, congressmen ug mga witness.

Sige lang siya patuyang ug usik usik sa kwarta tutal TAWO ra man iya pabayraon pinaagi sa tax.

maayo kaayo mo mosaway aning E-VAT pero kung imo mga kakusang kumunista mag-extort sa katawhan ug REVOLUTIONARY TAX wala kai reklamo.

[websniper]

if only collection was efficient, the government would have more money without hiking the rates..

Yeah precisely!..but they aren't serious when it comes to revenue collections.

[Vertical Horizon]

This is so gross!

the government implements E-VAT due to its incompetence of budgeting. now, that they are moolah-less they are turning up their nose to the public once again.
think about beating us into pulp from their own crime!

so gross! gross! gross!

[JoRed]

Shame, shame, INSANE!

Upon the dictation of the IMF-WB-WTO, the Arroyo gov't. has no choice but to follow it's bidding.

[Pixie77]

ok ra man ta ug dako ato taxes basta makita lang nato ang ebidensya nga gigamit sa sakto ang ato kwarta.. but sad to say that isn't the case w/ our country.... ang BIR abtik kaayo mo collect sa mga small businesses nga hundreds or thousands ra ang bayronon.... apan sa kadto millions ang bayranan sa taxes dili jed tawn nila kaya kay unsaon naa may mga kapit sa dagkong tae sa politika...

kafaet ani ano kahimtang karon ngkalisod na man gani budget sa current rate karon.. patas-an pa jed... mayta increase ang sweldo pero murag hanap man na nga mahitabo oi

[pridi]

Hmmmmm...... the government is looking for ways for survival.... i know for a fact nga the idea is gud pero its the people handling the power ang naay problem.....

Well.... this is Quezon's dream diba? "I would rather want the Phils. to run like hell by Filipinos than like heaven by the Americans"....

I could only say nga ang mga "medyo" ok nga officials were those people after the US occupation. Kay ang naa sa utok ato nila kay for the benefit of the Philippines pa man.....

The reason why some businessmen cheat, its because the government assumes nga they (businessmen) are cheating also. My late uncle before had a survey sa Mindanao on this (corruption) and he only relayed it to me.

Laliman ka, ang mo check sa business kay mo hatag lang ug options daw (meaning d ko ka confirm) sa negosyante. "Unsa man, hatag ka ug 10,000 or ukayon nato inyong libro diha?" 10K pa to kay medyo barato pa ang mga prices ato nga time. Hahay.... kung ikaw negosyante, asa man ka? Maniguro sad jud ka noh ug bayad nalang.....

Luoy kaau ang mga tawo sa gov't nga nag tinarong.... pero d man mka blame sa mga Juan Dela Cruz kung ngano ingon ana ka hugaw ang tan-aw sa ilaha....

Hahay, everything is a rat race (rat inside a circular cage), den ang luoy kay ang rat (si Juan) kay cya ang cge kayod.....

How nice unta kung one time, maski one time lang, tinarong tanan.... (i.e. officials, businessmen, people) pero i think that will just stay a dream....

[darkwing]

like it or not here it comes, better prepare for it rather than gnashing one's teeth...

[pandisal]

so, hows your evat now?

[JoRed]

[img width=448 height=309]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a193/cheesecake100/hikog.jpg[/img]

VAT jacks up prices
Consumers brace for new tax whammy


First posted 00:50am (Mla time) Nov 01, 2005
By Abigail L. Ho, Christian V. Esguerra
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on Page A1 of the November 1, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


BRACE FOR HARDER times. The 10-percent expanded value-added tax takes effect today, All Saints' Day.

Expect higher fuel prices, higher power rates, higher fares for air and sea transport, and higher medical and legal fees.

Petroleum products, electricity, domestic air and sea transport, and medical and legal services were previously exempt from the VAT, which is the centerpiece of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's campaign to control the budget deficit.

The VAT law allows the President to raise the tax rate to 12 percent by Jan. 1 next year.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. today, unleaded gasoline will retail at an average of P38.42 a liter, regular gasoline at P36.37 a liter, diesel at P33.17 a liter, and kerosene at P34.91 a liter, according to initial computations by the Department of Energy.

Cooking gas prices should range between P486.17 and P492.77 per 11-kilogram cylinder.

Gasoline, diesel and kerosene would have cost more had oil firms not cut prices today by 60 centavos a liter. The price of cooking gas was cut by P1 a kilogram. The decrease came in the wake of softening crude oil prices in the international market.

Electricity rates in the franchise area of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will go up by an average of 58 centavos per kilowatt-hour based on the September rate of P7.30 per kWh, the company earlier said.

Because petroleum products and electricity are major inputs in many industries, the prices of other basic commodities and services are also expected to rise.

Pity the poor

"Pity those who do not have money, those who have no jobs," Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal told reporters in an interview.

Vidal said he was "not happy" about the tax measure, noting that it will weigh heavily on the poor, who account for the majority of Filipinos.

"Many of them eat no more than once a day," he quoted nuns assigned to one of the poorest communities under his archdiocese as telling him. "And even if they had food, it is not enough for that one meal."

Vidal said that even the Church stood to suffer from the VAT largely because it would discourage donations. "As it is, alms from the people are already few," he said.

Civil disobedience

The Department of Finance estimates that the VAT will generate P4 billion to P5 billion in the remaining months of the year, and about P81.41 billion yearly beginning in 2006.

Militant organizations are planning work slowdowns and stoppages, sit-down protests and boycotts to protest the implementation of the VAT law.

"The implementation of the VAT is like an economic massacre on the poor," said Renato Reyes, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

Reyes said Bayan and its allied organizations -- Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Pamalakaya -- were looking into the details of a civil disobedience campaign against the Arroyo administration.

"VAT will provide one of the bases for civil disobedience soon," he said.

Members of the youth group Anakbayan are planning to desist from paying their utility bills because of the VAT.

"They want us to tighten our belts when we have no more room to breathe. We are left with no choice. We have to resort to drastic means to survive. Our meager incomes cannot be scrimped any further to cope with the continuous surging prices of oil and other basic commodities," Anakbayan secretary general Eleanor de Guzman said.

"Instead of paying more due to VAT on electricity and water, we choose food on our tables instead," she said.

Vampire

The President yesterday was called a "modern-day vampire" for her "blood-sucking" economic policies as exemplified by the VAT.

Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano said Ms Arroyo was "out to drain the Filipino people's blood" because the VAT's implementation coincided with All Saints' Day.

Unlike Queen Akasha, the mythical mother of all vampires played by the late singer Aaliyah in the 2002 movie "Queen of the Damned," the President would prey on her victims even in daylight, Mariano said.

"Ms Arroyo's VAT will further bleed the Filipino people dry not only in the cover of night but also in broad daylight," he said.

The militant lawmaker, who had voted against the law, said the locally available anti-vampire antidote, garlic, and sunlight won't work against the President.

Lifeline customers

While it had yet to file a new rate schedule with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Meralco had already come up with initial computations on the impact of VAT on its customers, according to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

Lifeline rate customers, or those consuming 100 kWh or less a month, will still be entitled to discounts: 50 percent for those using between 1 and 50 kWh, 35 percent for those consuming between 51 and 70 kWh, and 20 percent for those using between 71 and 100 kWh.

Factoring in these discounts, households using between 1 kWh and 50 kWh a month will see a P13.74 increase in their electricity bills. Those using 70 kWh will see their bills rise by P25.75, and those consuming 100 kWh will have to shell out an additional P46.

Meralco customers using around 200 kWh will see their bills rise by P118.44 a month. More than 1.2 million Meralco customers, or 31.8 percent of total customers, are in this consumption bracket.

The price increases will be reflected on customers' bills as soon as the ERC approves Meralco's new rate schedule. The VAT collection, however, will be retroactive to Nov. 1.

In the Visayas and Mindanao, Lotilla said, the impact of VAT would not be as big as in Luzon because these areas made greater use of power from hydro and geothermal sources.

Under the expanded VAT law, power from hydro and geothermal sources is still exempted from the VAT, according to Lotilla.

In Davao City, for example, he said the expected impact was only around 14 centavos per kWh for residential customers. The impact would be higher in Cagayan de Oro City at 22 centavos per kWh and in Cebu City, at 29 centavos per kWh.

Softening world oil prices

Refiners Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. yesterday announced that the recent softening of world oil prices had given them enough leeway to bring down gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices by 60 centavos a liter by 12:01 a.m. today.

Major importer Caltex Philippines Inc. and Total (Philippines) Inc. will also adjust the prices of the three products by the same levels at the same time.

According to data from the Department of Energy (DoE), after surging over the past several months, the regional benchmark Dubai crude slipped to an October average of $54.08 a barrel, more than $2 lower than the September average of $56.54 a barrel.

The price of unleaded gasoline based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), benchmark for refined petroleum products also declined by almost $10 to $69.62 a barrel in the first 28 days of the month from a high $79.40-a-barrel average last month.

The price of MOPS-based diesel has also started to fall, dropping to an Oct. 1-28 average of $76.72 a barrel from $79.67 a barrel in September.

Petron public affairs manager Virginia Ruivivar said these declines should translate into a P1-a-liter reduction in fuel prices. The continuing volatility of prices, however, kept the oil refiner from immediately reflecting that amount in its pump prices.
"It's too early to reflect that in full," she said in a briefing.

Dealers get 15 centavos

She added that the oil firm had also chosen to give dealers a chance to boost their margins a bit by implementing a pump price cut of only 60 centavos when it could have announced a price reduction of 75 centavos a liter.

Petron dealers, she explained, had not been posting decent margins these past months, often registering margins of only 1 percent or 2 percent and sometimes even shouldering losses.

To help them recover, she said Petron opted to pass on 15 centavos a liter to them by way of implementing a rollback of only 60 centavos a liter.

The price cuts by oil companies and mitigating measures by the government reduced the impact of the VAT on kerosene to only P1.40 a liter instead of P2.06, on unleaded gasoline to P2.37 instead of P3.03, and on cooking gas to P22.17 per 11-kilogram cylinder instead of P35.37.

To help reduce the impact of the VAT on fuel and LPG, Malacañang issued Executive Order No. 440, which brought down the tariff on crude and refined petroleum product imports from 5 percent to 3 percent.

DoE data showed that the tariff reduction would result in corresponding price decreases of 52 centavos a liter for unleaded gasoline, 46 centavos for regular gasoline, 57 centavos for diesel and kerosene, 35 centavos for bunker, and P10.03 for each 11-kilogram cylinder of cooking gas.

Apart from the tariff reduction, excise taxes on diesel at P1.63 a liter, kerosene at 60 centavos a liter and fuel oil at 30 centavos will be scrapped. The excise tax on regular gasoline will also be slashed by 45 centavos a liter to P4.35 from P4.80.

The price cuts, coupled by the mitigating measures, trimmed down the average impact of the VAT on pump prices to only about 5 percent instead of the full 10 percent, Ruivivar said. With reports from Michael Lim Ubac and Norman Bordadora

[tolstoi]

E-VAT is constitutional..revolutionary Tax is NOT :mrgreen: