(Iginiit sa pamahalaan) SUSPENSIYON NG FUEL TAX

BINIGYAN-DIIN ng isang party-list solon na mas mabuting pansamantalang ihinto ng pamahalaan ang pagpapataw ng buwis sa mga produktong petrolyo bilang tugon na rin sa  serye ng oil price hike.

Kasabay nito, sinabi ni Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor na pabor siya sa mungkahing repasuhin ng Kongreso ang 1998 Oil Deregulation Law sakaling magkaroon sila ng special session.

“I am for revisiting the law that deregulated the oil industry, but in terms of providing our people immediate and direct relief from soaring fuel prices, suspending taxes on oil products is considerably a better option,” pahayag pa ng mambabatas.

Ayon kay Defensor, kapag kinatigan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang panawagan para putulin muna ang ‘session break’ at magbalik-plenaryo silang mga mambabatas, isusulong niya ang pag-apruba sa nakabimbing House Bill No. 10411.

Paliwanag ni Defensor, ang nasabing panukalang batas ay nagsusulong para sa suspensyon ng fuel taxes sa loob ng tatlong taon, kung saan nakikita rin niyang napapanahong maipatupad muli ang oil tax suspension mechanism sa ilalim ng Section 43 ng Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

“Section 43 provided for the shelving of higher oil levies whenever the price of crude in the world market hit $80 per barrel. However, the provision applied only to the years 1998, when the law took effect, 1999 and 2000,” aniya. “We can revive that so that the tax increase under TRAIN could immediately be shelved because the cost of crude has soared to $113 per barrel due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” dagdag ni Defensor.  ROMER R. BUTUYAN