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SA hangaring makalikom ng mas malaking pondo para sa mga makabuluhang programa at proyekto ng gobyerno, target ng Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) patawan ng mas mataas ng buwis ang lahat ng vapor products sa merkado.
“We wish to maintain that cigarette products and heated tobacco products should be taxed at the same rate, your honor,” wika ni BIR Large Taxpayers Service Assistant Commissioner Atty. Jethro Sabariaga sa pagharap nito sa pagdinig sa Senado.
“But with regard to the vapor products, we share the same observation with the Department of Finance that it should not be lower than traditional tobacco. But, in fact, [we] proposed that it should be higher because one vapor product is not the same as consumption of one pack of cigarettes,” dugtong ng opisyal.
Paliwanag ni Sabariaga, ang isang vape product ay mas marami ang ‘puffs’ kumpara sa isang pack ng sigarilyo kung kaya maituturing na hindi patas ang kasalukuyang tax rate sa mga ito.
“One pack of cigarettes can be consumed in 300 puffs. The market shows that the lowest number of puffs you can consume on one vape product is 600 puffs, as per the representation also and their labelling. So, there’s a non-parity… from a revenue perspective, the revenue agency will be or the government will be losing a lot based on the consumption of these products,” anang lawyer-accountant.
“From a revenue perspective, the government will be losing a lot based on the consumption of these products because these products will be consumed [for] a longer time than one cigarette product.”
Kinatigan naman ng Department of Finance (DOF) Director Maria Carla Espinosa ang posisyon ng BIR official at sinabing “the DOF indeed supports a unitary specific tax rate for all vapor products. This is to improve efficiency in tax collections and to encourage increase in tax compliance.”
Matatandaan na naitala ang BIR ang mas mataas na koleksyon nito sa vape products kasunod ng mas pinaigting na kampanya partikular ang pagpapatupad ng stamp system.
Noong taong 2023, nasa 11.2 million milliliters ng vape liquids lamang ang nabuwisan, na katumbas ng ₱223.75 million koleksyon ng excise taxes. Subalit sa pagpapatupad anito ng BIR’ ng vape stamp system noong Hunyo 2024, ang koleksyon ng ahensya ay umakyat ng ₱942 million mula sa 130 million milliliters na nabuwisan nito sa loob lamang ng isang taon.
