SENATE RATIFIES PPP, EASE OF PAYING TAXES BILL

THE Senate on Wednesday night (September 27, 2023) ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill No. 2224 and House Bill No. 4125 or the proposed Ease of Paying Taxes Act.

The bill primarily seeks to amend provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 to simplify the process of paying taxes and strengthen taxpayers’ rights. 

Senator JV Ejercito, said the reconciled version of SB 2233 and HB 6527 will further enhance the framework for the processing of PPP projects.

He said the reconciled version also improved the management of unsolicited proposals by clarifying the roles of bodies concerned to ensure that the rules set in the law are upheld; enabling the government to come up with more efficient processes without sacrificing the level of due diligence accorded to each PPP project; and striking a balance between incentivizing private partners to participate in the PPP Program while protecting public interest every step of the way.

“The Conference Committee also recognized the game-changing impacts of this measure which unifies the government’s approach in unlocking the potential of PPPs in the country. As such, the reconciled version now calls this landmark legislation the Public-Private Partnership Code of the Philippines,” Ejercito said.

According to Ejercito, the bicameral committee has also propounded the three policy objectives of the bill as set by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. which are to address the ambiguities in the existing law; to address the bottlenecks and challenges affecting the implementation of the PPP Program; and to foster a more competitive and enabling environment for PPPs.

Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian reported to the plenary the result of the bicameral conference committee meeting to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of SB 2224 and HB 4125 .

Gatchalian said the reconciled version provides for taxpayer segmentation, file-and-pay anywhere mechanism, exemption of micro taxpayers from withholding taxes, reduction of penalties for micro and small taxpayers, and exemption of OFWs from the filing of income tax returns.

“This is an important measure that would support our goal of sustaining economic growth as the taxes are the government’s main source of revenue for critical projects and programs. Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, magkakaroon na tayo ng isang batas na tutugon sa komplikadong pagbabayad ng buwis at magpapabilis ng proseso habang hinihikayat natin ang mga taxpayer na tuparin ang kanilang obligasyon,” said Gatchalian, author of the proposed measure.

The bill also had additional revisions which include the option to electronically or manually register, transfer, and cancel the registration without the need to pay P500 annual registration fee; adoption of the accrual method for the sale of goods and services for VAT purposes; recovery of output VAT paid on uncollected receivables; VAT invoice as the only proof of transaction, and removal of the term “prominently” in the phrase “written or printed prominently”; automatic indexation of the VAT threshold; implementation of audit risk assessment in the processing of VAT claims; fixing the period for processing of refund of erroneously paid taxes to 180 days from the date of submission of complete documents and increase of threshold from P100 to P500 for transactions requiring official receipts, to be adjusted every three years using the Consumer Price Index.