The House Ways and Means Committee has proposed their position to the Department of Finance on a possible 20-percent excise tax on firecrackers and fireworks in general.
House Bill #3685 aims to regulate the use of firecrackers by imposing an excise tax – the masure has been pending at the committee level since 2014.
“We are awaiting the DOF position, their estimates,” said Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina, who leads the panel.
He said the proposed excise or specific tax may depend on the nature or amount of gunpowder in firecrackers.
“The basic philosophy is that we don’t pass a revenue measure that is not administratively feasible,” the lawmaker said.
The panel held hearings last year on the bill which was opposed by the heads of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association of the Philippines Inc. and Philippine Firecrackers Association.
They said local firecrackers and pyrotechnics comprise 20 percent of the market, thus government should instead curb the smuggling of imported fireworks and firecrackers.
But Quimbo said Congress would be able to minimize, if not put an end, to the use of dangerous firecrackers by exercising the power of taxation on the sale of firecrackers.
Several sectors prefer a stricter enforcement of Republic Act 7183 – the law regulating the sale, manufacture and distribution of firecrackers – while the Department of Health wants a total ban on firecrackers because of the yearly injuries that occur during the holidays.