If the Tax System Isn't Broken, Don't Mess With It

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 02/16/2011

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp (PMFTC) has asked the Philippines government to retain the country's existing tobacco tax system, according to a story in The Philippine Star. The current tax law is due to expire this year and legislators have been scrambling to have their own measures replace the old one. But the PMFTC president, Chris Nelson, said it would be better to extend the current system, which mandates tax increases every other year, for five or six years. At a press conference, Nelson said the current system was working. The Bureau of Internal Revenue had exceeded its P25.9 billion tobacco target. It had collected P31.6 billon in tobacco taxes last year, 32 per cent more than it had collected in 2009. Nelson said the tobacco industry had been flourishing and that gains were being passed on to tobacco farmers, who were growing more tobacco. Enditem