Lawmakers urged to 'take up cudgels' for consumers affected by proposed new taxes

The United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) on Tuesday urged lawmakers to take up the cudgels for the Filipino consumers that will be affected by the proposed new taxes.

In a statement, UFCC president RJ Javellana Jr. reiterated their opposition to the plan of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on online sellers.

“Malaking bagay sa ating ipinaglalaban ang pagpanig sa atin ng mga mambabatas. Itutuloy ng grupo na labanan ang hindi makatarungang pagpataw ng mga bagong buwis na ito,” he said.

(It is a big thing in what we are fighting for if the legislators are our side. The group will continue to fight the unjust imposition of these new taxes.)

Senator Francis Escudero earlier expressed opposition to the plan of the government to impose new taxes as this would burden people who have yet to recover from COVID-19 pandemic.

"Taxation should be the last resort, not the first option. You reduce unnecessary expenses to cancel the need for unreasonable taxes," Escudero said in a statement on May 11.

“But more immediate is the BIR plan to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on one-half of the gross remittances of online platform providers to their partner-sellers or merchants,” he added.

Consumer protection advocate Ronald Gustilo of Digital Pinoys movement also urged BIR to reconsider the planned 1% withholding tax, saying the move will “hurt small online sellers the most.”

“The imposition of 1% withholding tax on e-commerce merchants will hurt small online sellers the most. This is a burden for them and should not be imposed. This digitax will push back the opportunities presented by online selling, which has transformed into the main livelihood of many Filipino families,” he said.

“This new tax may do more harm than good as it will have a chilling effect, especially on micro, small, and medium businesses (MSMEs) that maximize digital technology. It will heavily affect the government's digitalization campaign for businesses. We may see lesser digital MSMEs if the additional tax pushes through,” he added.

The BIR earlier said that with the proliferation of online sales transactions through the facilities of online platform providers, there is a need to take advantage of the opportunity to identify sellers of goods and services who are therefore obliged to declare their income resulting from these transactions for tax purposes.

It is eyeing to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on one-half of the gross remittances of online platform providers to their partner sellers or merchants.

GMA News Online sought comment from the BIR but it has yet to reply as of this posting.—Richa Noriega/AOL, GMA Integrated News