Excise taxes on liquor violating WTO rules Vol. XXII, No. 71 Monday, November 3, 2008
THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT is using a new argument in its bid to raise vice taxes, pointing out that indigenous wines are enjoying lower excise taxes in violation of international trade rules.
The department’s proposal will increase the excise tax on distilled spirits sourced from commercially produced indigenous materials such as the sap of nipa, cassava, buri palm, and sugar cane to P20.38 per proof liter from P11.65 per proof liter "to make the taxation of distilled spirits World Trade Organization (WTO)-compliant."
"We want to make the tax treatment of alcohol products WTO-consistent, i.e. no preference for domestic products," the Finance department said in a presentation before lawmakers last month.
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