The United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) on Tuesday urged lawmakers to take up the cudgels for the Filipino shoppers that can be affected by the proposed new taxes.
In an announcement, UFCC president RJ Javellana Jr. reiterated their opposition to the plan of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on on-line sellers.
“Malaking bagay sa ating ipinaglalaban ang pagpanig sa atin ng mga mambabatas. Itutuloy ng grupo na labanan ang hindi makatarungang pagpataw ng mga bagong buwis na ito,” he stated.
(It is a giant factor in what we’re preventing for if the legislators are our facet. The group will proceed to combat the unjust imposition of those new taxes.)
Senator Francis Escudero earlier expressed opposition to the plan of the federal government to impose new taxes as this might burden individuals who have but to get better from COVID-19 pandemic.
“Taxation should be the last resort, not the first option. You reduce unnecessary expenses to cancel the need for unreasonable taxes,” Escudero stated in an announcement on May 11.
“But more immediate is the BIR plan to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on one-half of the gross remittances of online platform providers to their partner-sellers or merchants,” he added.
Consumer safety advocate Ronald Gustilo of Digital Pinoys motion additionally urged BIR to rethink the deliberate 1% withholding tax, saying the transfer will “hurt small online sellers the most.”
“The imposition of 1% withholding tax on e-commerce merchants will hurt small online sellers the most. This is a burden for them and should not be imposed. This digitax will push back the opportunities presented by online selling, which has transformed into the main livelihood of many Filipino families,” he stated.
“This new tax may do more harm than good as it will have a chilling effect, especially on micro, small, and medium businesses (MSMEs) that maximize digital technology. It will heavily affect the government’s digitalization campaign for businesses. We may see lesser digital MSMEs if the additional tax pushes through,” he added.
The BIR earlier stated that with the proliferation of on-line gross sales transactions by the services of on-line platform suppliers, there’s a must reap the benefits of the chance to establish sellers of products and providers who’re due to this fact obliged to declare their revenue ensuing from these transactions for tax functions.
It is eyeing to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on one-half of the gross remittances of on-line platform suppliers to their accomplice sellers or retailers.
GMA News Online sought remark from the BIR however it has but to answer as of this posting.—Richa Noriega/AOL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
