Malacañang distanced itself from a revived plan to impose taxes on text messages among other schemes being eyed in a bid to recoup between P40 billion and P60 billion in estimated foregone revenue expected to result from proposed higher tax-exemption caps on workers’ year-end bonuses.
Asked if the Palace was backing the tax-on-text plan Palace Secretary Edwin Lacierda clarified that the Palace has nothing to do with it.
“I spoke to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, we are not behind it,” Lacierda told the BusinessMirror.
In a text message, he added that President Aquino and his Cabinet have not even decided the matter.
“No policy decision yet, according to Secretary Purisima,” Lacierda said.
Earlier reports, however, quoted Finance Undersecretary Jeremias Paul as citing the need for the government to find alternative revenue sources to recover loses from projected lower income-tax collection once Congress approves a bill raising tax-exemption caps on 13th-month bonuses.
He confirmed that one of the options is the revival of previous plans to tax text messages sent daily by millions of cell-phone users all over the country.
The Undersecretary confirmed the tax-on-text plan “is in the pipeline” but admitted the government agencies concerned still has to figure out “how to implement” and that the matter has yet to be discussed with Congress, as well as the telcos and their customers.
Still, he asserted that the government is firm in its position “that any measure that results in losses for the government must be replaced with an alternative revenue measure.”