Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion
Prices will increase beyond the Christmas season
December 19, 2017
On the day that Pres Duterte signs the tax reform package, IBON underscores how TRAIN will entail price hikes on various goods and services beyond Christmas. IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution established in 1987 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues. — Media & Communications Department […]
With Duterte’s TRAIN, poor pay higher taxes so rich can take home more
December 13, 2017
By Sonny Africa The Duterte administration’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill reportedly due for ratification by Congress this week burdens the poor with higher consumption taxes so that the rich can have higher take-home pay. The Department of Finance (DOF) used income tax gains for a few middle-class families as a smokescreen […]
No thanks: US behind Duterte’s anti-poor tax reform
November 13, 2017
At the onset of the much-anticipated first-ever bilateral talks between United States president Donald Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte on Philippine soil, it should be reiterated that the US has a hand in what would be the most anti-poor tax program in the country’s history. The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) exemplifies how […]
Under TRAIN, taxes are cut on the rich (TRAIN Infographic #5)
September 28, 2017
TRAIN will make the rich richer – The net impact of the change in income taxes, expansion of VAT coverage, new oil excise taxes, and inflationary effect is that the highest-earning 40% of Filipino households, or 9.1 million households with some 40 million Filipinos, will have more money in their pockets after the tax reform. This […]
Will the poor benefit from paying higher taxes?
September 25, 2017
by Audrey de Jesus Among the hyped claims of the Department of Finance (DOF) about the government’s tax reform package is how taxes paid by the poor will go back to them in the form of infrastructure projects and social services. The reality however is that the taxes will go largely to big-ticket infrastructure projects […]
Real wage falling, higher taxes imminent (with TRAIN Infographic #4)
September 19, 2017
Though welcome, the recent wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR) does not increase the minimum wage earners’ purchasing power. The real value of the minimum wage is even falling while the people face higher taxes under government’s proposed tax reforms, said the group. The NCR Regional Wage Board recently announced a Php21 wage hike, […]
IBON: DOF insistence on its tax package confirms anti-poor, pro-rich Dutertenomics
September 15, 2017
Research group IBON said that the Department of Finance’s (DOF) resistance to even minor changes in its proposed tax reform program confirms the anti-poor and pro-rich character of the Duterte administration’s economic policies. The Senate Ways and Means Committee proposed minor changes to shift some tax burden from the poor to the rich at its […]
Majority not in favor of tax reform proposals – IBON Survey
September 13, 2017
The latest survey of research group IBON showed that majority of Filipinos do not approve of almost all proposals under the first package of the Duterte administration’s proposed tax reform program. Survey respondents were informed that the government has a proposed tax reform package. They were presented with a list of some of the tax […]
Under TRAIN, the majority poor do not gain from income tax reforms (TRAIN Infographic #3)
September 11, 2017
The DOF’s estimates of personal income tax gains for the poorest Filipinos erroneously assumes that the poorest Filipinos currently pay income tax. This is untrue because the BIR’s records indicate only some 5.6 million taxpayers at present who are wholly from the highest income brackets. The poorest Filipinos do not pay income tax now so, contrary […]
