Say no to VAT on toll fees

NO HOLDS BARRED
Ike Señeres

I interviewed Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in my TV show and he said on the air that the proposed VAT on toll fees by the BIR is not only unconstitutional, it is also very much like a tax on tax, meaning that it is also a form of double taxation.

As a way of explaining his point, Senator Enrile said that if the government itself builds the roads, it does not and it could not impose taxes on the users because roads are supposed to be public property on one hand, and roads are supposed to be considered as public services on the other hand.

Having said this, he explained further that toll road operators build roads as toll ways for and on behalf of the government, meaning to say that the toll operators are just agents acting on behalf of the government but the actual builder is no other than the government itself.

Explaining it further, Enrile said that under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme, the government is the deemed owner of the roads at the outset, until it becomes the full owner once the roads are turned over. In the meantime, the government allows the operators to collect the equivalent of taxes by way of payments in the form of toll fees so that the operators could be paid on an installment basis. Using this as the prevailing logic, he argued that since it is as if the government is the actual builder of the roads under the BOT scheme, it should not collect any more additional taxes.

I am happy to note that Enrile supports the advocacy of the National Council for Commuter Protection (NCCP) to oppose the imposition of taxes on top of the toll fees. Even if it is very busy campaigning for the coming election as party list number 163, the leaders and members of the NCCP still find the time to campaign against the proposed tax on tolls.

The NCCP specifically works for the benefit of commuters, but as a natural consequence, it also works for the benefit of consumers, because in effect the commuters are the buyers of transport services. Pushing this logic forwards, the NCCP also argues that if and when taxes are imposed on toll fees, not only the transport fares will go up, the prices of goods will also go up, triggering a domino effect that will affect everyone in society.

In the course of the interview, Enrile also said that under the theory of governance, the government is not supposed to impose taxes on the goods and services that it is duty bound to deliver, and these should include water and electricity among others, according to him. He said that this is the reason why he is fighting for the removal of taxes on water and electricity bills.

Aside from being a good lawyer, Enrile appears to be also a good economist, and he uses his knowledge of law and economics to rationalize the imposition of taxes, for the common good. As an example of this, he also took the time to argue that when he passed the law that abolished the payment of taxes on incomes earned abroad, the government eventually benefited in the long run, because as a result of the law, remittances went up.

Ms. Elvie Medina, the founder of the NCCP, also appears to be good in economics, as it relates to the prices of goods and services. She argues that it is a good idea to give incentives to the operators of transport services, because she says that this will result in a three-in-one combination, explaining along the way that this will not just make our transports newer and safer; it will also make the fares cheaper.

On the subject of safety, Ms. Medina says that the NCCP not only campaigns for safer vehicles, it also campaigns for better liability insurance coverage for all commuters that are using public transports. Apparently, the airlines and the shipping lines already have basic coverage, but the land transports appear to be lacking in this regard. She added that victims of accidents have the rights to better and higher liability coverage.

Still on the subject of safety, Ms. Medina laments the fact that it is always a big issue when airplanes crash or when ships sink, but very little attention is given when busses collide or when they fall into ravines. She says that one way to minimize bus accidents is to require special licensing for bus drivers, adding that the NCCP will push for new laws in support of this advocacy if and when it will win as party list number 163. After some confusing news reports, it is now clear that NCCP has not been disqualified as a party list, and it remains in the balqlot as 163.

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