THE House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading a bill that seeks to protect foreign remittances from excessive charges levied by financial institutions on overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
House Bill No. 10959 will give OFWs and their families a 50% discount on fees and charges imposed on remittances by banks and other financial intermediaries, while allowing them to claim the discount as a tax deduction.
“The bill also prohibits these financial intermediaries from raising their current remittance fees without prior consultation with the Department of Finance, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Department of Migrant Workers,” Party-list Rep. Jude A. Acidre, who sponsored the measure in plenary, said.
The House also approved on second reading a measure updating the Philippine Tax Code on distilled alcohol, which was “still anchored to the old system of taxing alcohol as an ingredient,” according to House Bill No. 10328.
The bill proposes that all manufactured alcohol be excluded from excise taxes, which only apply to locally produced spirits. It will allow Philippine distillers to denature alcohol regardless of whether it is produced locally or imported.
“This measure seeks to rectify the taxation policy on the nature of alcohol, which limits denaturing to domestic alcohol produced by local distilleries,” Bulacan Rep. Ambrosio C. Cruz, Jr., who sponsored the bill, told lawmakers. — KCLB
