Asian Consulting Group Founding Chairman and Chief Tax Advisor Mon Abrea recently published his policy proposal via BusinessWorld for combating the high inflation faced by the country. In his policy paper, Abrea focused on fiscal policies designed to alleviate the hardships felt by the poor and the low-income earners.
Among his proposals was to further increase the excise tax on non-essential goods, such as luxury cars, alcoholic drinks, and cigarettes (including e-cigarettes).
He also noted that, instead of imposing the 12% VAT on digital services which would only contribute less than 0.1% of the GDP and burden consumers, Congress should instead look into imposing income taxes on non-resident foreign tech giants.
The policy memo further emphasized the need for digitalization.
His other policy suggestions included the cutting of government spending and the imposition of other government interventions.
“Addressing high inflation requires a whole-of-government approach. It requires fiscal consolidation through budget rationalization and more tax revenues,” he noted.
Abrea has previously discussed the looming recession vis-a-vis the high inflation rates that the country is experiencing. In his earlier article, he observed the need for not only sound monetary policy from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas but also adequate fiscal policies from Congress and the Department of Finance.
Read the full article: Addressing High Inflation in the Philippines
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