Make it an election issue

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

A study by international audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has found the Philippines to implement one of the most tedious processes for paying taxes in the world and has the highest income tax in Asia.

The study ranked the Philippines where it takes 193 hours for a businessman to pay 36 kinds of fees and taxes per year 127 th among the 189 economies reviewed in terms of ease of paying business taxes. Thailand is ranked 62 nd and Malaysia is 32 nd . A ranking as low as that means it is easier to pay taxes in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

It also found that the average income tax rate and contributions paid by a Philippine employer is 42.5 percent, or six percent higher than the average tax rate in Asia Pacific.

The study, titled “Paying Taxes 2015”, is an annual research done by PwC and is included in the “Doing Business” project by the World Bank Group. It measures the ease of paying taxes across economies by assessing the time it takes for a medium-sized company to prepare, file and pay its taxes; the number of taxes that a company has to pay; the method of payment; and the total tax liability as a percentage of its commercial profits.

The PwC report illustrates both successful tax reforms and reform challenges and provides a platform for government and business to engage in constructive discussion around tax reform across a broader range of issues.

Tax reform is poised to become a hot election issue and we hope that the candidates will be able to clearly state their positions and proposed solutions as far as that topic as concerned so Filipino voters can make informed choices when it comes to figuring out what their candidates stand for instead of relying too much on name recall, catchy but empty slogans, and motherhood statements.*