Lacierda: No new taxes only for Aquino's 1st yr.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said on Monday that while President Benigno Aquino III's "no new taxes" policy in place this year, the same could not be said for the remaining years of his presidency. Lacierda clarified that Aquino's campaign promise was limited only to the first year of his term. "That’s my understanding. The ‘no new taxes’ is for this year. We are going through it on a year-to- year basis," Lacierda said when asked to comment on bills in Congress that would raise the excise tax on tobacco products. When Aquino was running for president, he told the Makati Business Club that there would be no new taxes this year. The stand was repeated when he was elected and the President said that government would rather focus on efficient tax collection. Lacierda also clarified that the introduction of new taxes next year will depend on the fiscal condition of the country. “Right now we are doing okay so mukhang there are no plans right now. But again with respect to the sin taxes, it’s hard for us to comment," he said. With respect to the bills on tobacco, Lacierda said that they would see the proposed bills first to determine if an increase in taxes or a simplification of the multi-tiered system is needed. House Bill 3465 filed by Batanes Representative Henedina Abad seeks a uniform excise tax system and the indexation of tobacco excise tax to inflation while Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas’ bill wants to increase and unify the tax rate and adjust it annually to current values using the consumer price index. — BC/VS, GMA News