May 20, 2015
Visayan Daily Star by Carla P. Gomez | http://goo.gl/MlzSb9
Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. aired his opposition to the imposition of advance Value Added Tax on raw sugar that, he said, will have dire consequences, especially on small farmers.
The governor spoke at a hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on House Bill 5713, authored by Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4 th District) at the House of Representatives in Quezon City yesterday afternoon.
Senator Sergio Osmeña III and Ferrer have filed bills stressing that raw cane sugar and raw sugar are one and the same, and should be exempted from Value Added Tax, contrary to revenue regulations issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Ferrer and Osmeña said their bills, filed on May 5 in the House of Representatives and the Senate, are seeking an amendment of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, by providing the technical meaning of “raw cane sugar” to reflect the true intent of Congress in exempting the agricultural product from VAT.
Francis de la Rama, chairman of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, and Enrique Rojas who heads the National Federation of the Sugarcane Planters, said the House hearing yesterday on the abolition of advance VAT from raw sugar went very well, we would like to thank Rep. Ferrer for initiating it.
“We were informed that the hearing went very well in favor of the sugar industry's stand that raw sugar is VAT-exempt. For this we thank Cong. Jeffrey Ferrer, who filed the bill which prompted the public hearing. We also thank other Negrense House Representatives who supported our stand during the hearing,” Rojas said.
House Bill 5713 is necessary to make sure the BIR exempts raw sugar from VAT and does not interpret it any other way, Ferrer said.*CPG