(File photo) MANILA - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) requested before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means to consider providing a longer transition period for House Bill 9171 or Excise Tax on Plastic Bags. Acting Director Manuel Cruz of the DTI Board of Investments said the request will enable the affected industry to adjust, which may include those producing goods and primary commodities that use plastic bags for packaging, and their workers. "This would give local manufacturers ample time to adjust their production process or equipment, and to reskill their workforce," he said. Cruz added that Filipino consumers will also be able to adapt strategic practices and buying habits on goods that will be affected by the excise tax. Senator Pia Cayetano, who chairs the Committee on Ways and Means that leads the crafting of a counterpart version of the House bill, told Cruz that consumer education and awareness should have started a long time ago. "I'm all fo
(File photo) MANILA - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) requested before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means to consider providing a longer transition period for House Bill 9171 or Excise Tax on Plastic Bags. Acting Director Manuel Cruz of the DTI Board of Investments said the request will enable the affected industry to adjust, which may include those producing goods and primary commodities that use plastic bags for packaging, and their workers. "This would give local manufacturers ample time to adjust their production process or equipment, and to reskill their workforce," he said. Cruz added that Filipino consumers will also be able to adapt strategic practices and buying habits on goods that will be affected by the excise tax. Senator Pia Cayetano, who chairs the Committee on Ways and Means that leads the crafting of a counterpart version of the House bill, told Cruz that consumer education and awareness should have started a long time ago. "I'm all fo
(PNA File Photo) MANILA - Tax exemption is not the best way to support those rendering election services, particularly public school teachers, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Thursday. Arvin Quinones, director of the DOF Policy, Research and Liaison Office, made this remark after Senator Sherwin Gatchalian questioned during the Senate hearing the DOF's stand against a proposal to exempt from tax the honoraria and allowances of the teachers serving the elections. "If we really want to support these sectors, for example, these teachers who are rendering election services, then the tax exemption is not the best way to address them. That's our position in this matter. We have to address them, we have to support them, but the tax system is not the best way to do it," Quinones told the Senate Committees on Ways and Means and Electoral Reforms and People's Participation. Gatchalian, however, argued that the Tax Code already has several exemptions. "I'm l