TIEZA wants travel tax abolition pushed to January 2027

The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) on Tuesday asked lawmakers to set the proposed abolition of the travel tax starting January 2027.

During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, TIEZA chief operating officer Mark Lapid appealed to legislators to defer the implementation to 2027, citing possible budget constraints if the measure takes effect this year.

“If ever the abolition of the travel tax will be pushed through, we’re asking for consideration if the effectivity could start in January,” Lapid said.

He explained that implementing the measure in the middle of the year would pose financial challenges for the agency.

“‘Yung 2026 budget namin… kung nasa middle, mahihirapan po kami because salaries were 90% based on [travel tax],” he said.

(It would be a challenge for us to pay the salaries of some of our employees if it were implemented in the middle of the year, since 90% of the funding of it is based on travel tax.)

While TIEZA supports the proposal to abolish the travel tax, Lapid urged lawmakers to ensure continued budgetary support for tourism infrastructure projects.

He added that the measure could affect at least 305 employees of the agency.

For her part, Senator Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate panel, acknowledged the challenges posed by the proposal.

“Ang challenge on our part is it is a priority measure… Nag-iingat din kami kung ano ang repercussions ng pagpasa nito,” Cayetano said.

(The challenge on our part is that it is a priority measure. We’re also careful in passing this because of the possible repercussions of its passage.)

She suggested that lawmakers consider gradually implementing the abolition of the travel tax and floated the idea of approving the measure at the committee level before introducing amendments during plenary deliberations.

Currently, the government collects a travel tax from departing Filipinos amounting to P1,620 for economy class and P2,700 for first-class flights.

Malacañang earlier said that the abolition of the travel tax is among the priority measures of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr..

On Monday, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved an unnumbered substitute bill seeking to scrap the travel tax.—MCG, GMA Integrated News