Finance Dept ready to submit more data to Senate for sin tax report

The Department of Finance will submit more data to the Senate ways and committee if it is planning to come out with a new report on the sin tax measure, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Thursday. “We’re hoping this would be passed within the year. There’s enough basis for it,” he also said. The Senate ways and means committee may have to come up with a new committee report after Senator Ralph Recto withdrew his version, which would have yielded P15 billion to P20 billion in revenues if implemented. Recto also resigned as committee chairperson last week amid criticisms that his version was a “watered down” version of the bill. Sen. Franklin Drilon has been named acting head of the committee. The House of Representatives approved in June its version of the sin tax measure, which would yield P31.35 billion in revenues in the first year of implementation. Purisima, Health Secretary Dr. Enrique Ona and Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares met with senators on Wednesday to push for the passage of the original tax measure. The group also said the government is willing to settle for P40 billion in revenues if the P60 billion is not attained. — BM, GMA News