During the earlier part of this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) proposed various measures in order to help alleviate the country from its growing debt problem.
One of the suggested measures was to remove the excise tax exemption of pickup trucks. At the time it was only just a proposal, it seems though it has become more than that.
Yesterday, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing, wherein they approved the proposal to remove the excise tax exemption on pickup trucks.
During the said hearing, Secretary of finance Benjamin Diokno produced a letter urging lawmakers to pass measures proposed by the DOF. One of the statements in the letter said, that pickups were originally exempted from excise tax because they were seen as “workhorses for small business owners and professionals in their livelihood.”
However, Diokno went on further to add that certain authorities have observed that, “manufacturers modify their pickups to serve as passenger, leisure, or sports utility vehicles.” This he said allows manufacturers to “circumvent the provision of the law and purpose of the exemption.”
Lastly, Diokno also mentioned that “subjecting pickup trucks to excise tax will result in an estimated additional (Government) revenue of P52.6 billion from 2022 to 2026.”
Given that Congress has already signed off on it, the proposal will now be looked over by the Senate, and (assuming there are no setbacks) soon after that the signature of the President will make it official.
Pickup trucks enjoy a moderate to huge following locally, and this latest development will definitely make an impact on that market, only time will tell if it will be a positive or negative one.
