By Moira Encina
Eagle News Service
The Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to junk the petitions seeking a halt in the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.
In its more than 70-page consolidated comment, the OSG said the petitions filed by the Makabayan bloc and Laban Konsyumer Inc. were defective and did not have any merit.
“The government and the public in general will greatly suffer if the TRAIN Law is declared invalid. The government stands to lose an estimated 146.6 billion pesos in 2018 from the lowering and restructuring of personal income tax,” the OSG said.
According to the OSG, the “loss will only be offset by the revenue generating features of the TRAIN Law, which is expected to provide 89.9 billion pesos in incremental revenues for 2018 and 786 billion pesos within the first five years.”
“…[T]he TRAIN Law is not arbitrary, oppressive, and confiscatory, and does not result in the deprivation of life, liberty or property without due process of law. It does not violate the equal protection clause since it impacts mostly middle to higher-income Filipinos,” the OSG said.
In fact, it said income wage earners can already feel the benefits of the bigger take-home pay while low-income wage earners were shielded from the effects of the law because of the unconditional cash transfer and other “mitigating measures.”
“Thus, the TRAIN law is progressive and equitable,” the OSG said.
The TRAIN law allows for an increase in excise taxes on petroleum products, automobiles, sugar-sweetened beverages and tobacco, and lower personal income tax rates.
It took effect on Jan. 1.