Philippines: Tobacco Taxes to Hit P90b — PMFTC

Source from:  Manila Standard  09/05/2014

A leading tobacco company said the government will likely exceed its revised excise tax collection target this year by almost P18 billion.

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. said while the Finance Department revised its tobacco excise tax collection target from the original P65 billion to P72 billion, the actual collection reached over P90 billion this year.

"We note the forecast of the Department of Finance stating they will likely collect P72 billion in tobacco excise in 2014, above its P65 billion target," PMFTC president Paul Riley said.

Riley said based on the yearly increase in tax rates and current trends, PMFTC would contribute around P70 billion in excise tax payments for 2014.

"Given our current market share of 71 percent, if all manufacturers were to pay excise tax on all the cigarette packs they produce, then the DoF should expect to receive excise tax payments well over P90 billion, which is considerably more than their original target," he said.

Among the reforms being put in place was the implementation of the stamp tax which gathered various reactions from industry players such as Bulacan-based Mighty Corp. Enditem