House bill imposing tax on single-use plastic bags approved on second reading

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that slapped at least a P100 tax for every kilogram of single-use plastic bags removed from the place of production or released from the Customs Bureau's custody.

This is provided under House Bill 4102 or an Act Imposing Excise Tax on Single-use Plastic Bags, amending for the purpose Section 288 and adding a new section 150-c in the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.

The bill states that the P100 initial tax per kilo of single-use plastic bags will be increased by 4% every year effective on January 1, 2026, through revenue regulations issued by the Secretary of Finance.

“The plastic bags tax is in line with the country’s efforts to fight ocean pollution, especially as we are now recognized ignominiously as the world’s biggest ocean plastic polluter,” House Ways and Means panel Chairperson Joey Salceda of Albay said in a statement.

“[This measure is also passed] to encourage the utilization of environment-friendly alternatives to plastic bags,” the committee report on the measure added.

The bill allocates the incremental revenues from the imposition of the excise tax on single-use plastic bags to programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the implementation of Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 in municipalities. — DVM, GMA Integrated News