5% of Cigarettes in Philippines Still Lack Tax Stamps

Source from:  ABS-CBNnews.com 10/13/2015

About 5 percent of cigarettes sold locally still do not have the required tax stamps, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said, citing a study by World Bank.
 
"There is another study conducted by World Bank which said that only 5 percent of cigarettes in the market does not have the tax stamp," BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said.
 
"By special provision of the law, they are illegal, but to say they did not pay taxes is inaccurate," she added.
 
BIR is optimistic that it can further decrease the number of cigarette packs that do not bear the required tax stamps.
 
Henares, meanwhile, said UK-based Oxford Economics should declare who funded its latest study that reported on the P22.5 billion illicit cigarette trade in the Philippines.
 
"I'm not saying they're biased, but I believe for the sake of transparency and disclosure, they should say who commissioned the study and let the public determine who will they believe in," she said.
 
Oliver Salmon, Oxford Economics senior economist for Asia, said the report is an independent study. It was funded by tobacco company Philip Morris, which was mentioned in a disclaimer on the actual report.
 
"We've always maintained full academic control, at the end of the day, the figures in front have our name on it, no one else is. It's our reputation, our credibility with which these figures go out into the public," Salmon said. Enditem