VAT on oil products
As the price of petroleum products keep rising, the call for the lifting or abolition of value added tax (VAT) on these products gets louder. While the goal of such measure -- help reduce the price of oil products -- is laudable, the policy tool being proposed is wrong.
The single most important element of the "rule of law" concept is that the law applies to everyone and exempts no one. Any exemption to the rule immediately invalidates the "rule of law" and automatically becomes "rule of men". When applied to commodities, the law should apply to all sectors or products and exempt not a single sector or product.
In the crafting of the current VAT law that was enacted in 2005, a few products were exempted from coverage of VAT. These include agricultural and fishery products in their original forms, meaning raw vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, etc. Once they are processed, like dried mangoes or canned sardines, the processed product is covered by VAT.
The exemption of these products, and the attempts by many other producers that the products or services they produce be exempted from VAT, was both a proof and indicator that the 12 percent VAT rate was high, so that almost everyone wanted exemption from the tax law.
Now that it is a law, the spirit of "apply to everything and exempt nothing" should be retained. In this sense, I am not in favor of lifting or abolishing VAT on oil products. Or any other products and services.
And yet I also want the prices of those VAT-covered products and services be made lower, so how can it be done considering that VAT is one of those significant price inflators?
One of my favorite alternative policy options is the abolition of import tax (if it is not abolished yet) of all petroleum products, and abolition of excise tax on gasoline products. Current excise tax is about P5.60 per liter. These will help reduce the price of oil products.
Another policy option is a lower, flat income tax, especially on personal income tax. Any tax cut is equivalent to "salary increase". Such de facto "pay hike" especially for fixed income earners, will enable many people to better adapt to higher oil prices since it is a global phenomenon anyway, and other commodities with higher prices with higher take-home pay.
How "low" should the flat tax be to have a maximum positive result to the people? Zero income tax is the best. But the best is not always the most practical and feasible. A 10 percent flat income tax, to my mind, is the second-best alternative. At this rate, many people, from public school teachers and policemen to private sector ordinary employees to struggling small entrepreneurs, will benefit. And the State will still collect taxes at a much broader tax base as more people will be encouraged to pay income tax because the rate is lower and complying with it is simpler.
I hope that many of the country's politicians and legislators will shift their attention away from reducing consumption-based taxes like VAT, towards reducing income tax. This is the single best fiscal policy tool that will greatly enable the public cope with high oil and other commodity prices.
The single most important element of the "rule of law" concept is that the law applies to everyone and exempts no one. Any exemption to the rule immediately invalidates the "rule of law" and automatically becomes "rule of men". When applied to commodities, the law should apply to all sectors or products and exempt not a single sector or product.
In the crafting of the current VAT law that was enacted in 2005, a few products were exempted from coverage of VAT. These include agricultural and fishery products in their original forms, meaning raw vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, etc. Once they are processed, like dried mangoes or canned sardines, the processed product is covered by VAT.
The exemption of these products, and the attempts by many other producers that the products or services they produce be exempted from VAT, was both a proof and indicator that the 12 percent VAT rate was high, so that almost everyone wanted exemption from the tax law.
Now that it is a law, the spirit of "apply to everything and exempt nothing" should be retained. In this sense, I am not in favor of lifting or abolishing VAT on oil products. Or any other products and services.
And yet I also want the prices of those VAT-covered products and services be made lower, so how can it be done considering that VAT is one of those significant price inflators?
One of my favorite alternative policy options is the abolition of import tax (if it is not abolished yet) of all petroleum products, and abolition of excise tax on gasoline products. Current excise tax is about P5.60 per liter. These will help reduce the price of oil products.
Another policy option is a lower, flat income tax, especially on personal income tax. Any tax cut is equivalent to "salary increase". Such de facto "pay hike" especially for fixed income earners, will enable many people to better adapt to higher oil prices since it is a global phenomenon anyway, and other commodities with higher prices with higher take-home pay.
How "low" should the flat tax be to have a maximum positive result to the people? Zero income tax is the best. But the best is not always the most practical and feasible. A 10 percent flat income tax, to my mind, is the second-best alternative. At this rate, many people, from public school teachers and policemen to private sector ordinary employees to struggling small entrepreneurs, will benefit. And the State will still collect taxes at a much broader tax base as more people will be encouraged to pay income tax because the rate is lower and complying with it is simpler.
I hope that many of the country's politicians and legislators will shift their attention away from reducing consumption-based taxes like VAT, towards reducing income tax. This is the single best fiscal policy tool that will greatly enable the public cope with high oil and other commodity prices.
posted by Bienvenido Oplas Jr | 2:24 AM
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