The Department of Finance (DOF) is now finetuning certain aspects of Package 2 Plus of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) to make sure that the proposal it submits to the Congress is “solid, well-consulted and well-researched.”

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said some aspects of Package 2 Plus on the removal of the value-added tax (VAT) exemptions for coal and casino operations have already been included in Package 2, which covers corporate taxation and the modernization of fiscal incentives.

Package 2 was submitted to the House of Representatives last January 16, 2018 following the reopening of the Congress after its yearend break.

On further adjusting the excise taxes on tobacco products, which is part of Package 2 Plus, Chua said the DOF will no longer submit a new proposal but would instead support the bill filed by Senator Manny Pacquiao on this tax and propose amendments.

The corresponding hike in alcohol excise taxes, meanwhile, is now undergoing final review and consultation, Chua said.

Another component of Package 2 Plus, the proposal on a comprehensive mining tax, would still require further consultation with the Mining Industry Coordination Council (MICC), which has scheduled its next meeting two weeks from now.

“So we are early in some and a bit late in some. But this will ensure the bill is solid, well-consulted and well-researched,” Chua said.

Besides Package 2 Plus, the DOF will also submit Package 3, which covers property taxation and Package 4 on capital income within this year.

The Congress has committed to approve Package 1B, the remaining one third of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), in the first quarter of this year.