The Unnecessary VAT Reform
" Hopefully, it will not have a strong impact on computers or technological products"

Now, it is not just terrorism from Jamaa Islamia or Abu Sayyaf that alarms the country but the government itself. In its pursuit for our international image change, the government continued its plan of implementing the dreaded expanded value added tax, better known as the evat.

Today, a large percentage of the total government revenues come from the value added tax. According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, value added taxes comprise 17.13 percent of the total government tax revenues in 2004; this bulk is just second to income taxes with 59.42 percent share in the 2004 tax collections. With this amount of money, we can clearly see that expanding the current value added tax system will greatly affect the income generated by the government.

In 2003, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected a total of 82.22 billion pesos just in value added tax. After the year, the BIR targeted for a 93.73 billion pesos in value added tax alone. Instead of achieving the goal, tax collections declined by 2.42 billion pesos with a net collection of 80.22 billion pesos. The BIR attributed this decline to the austerity measure of the government in that year. Due to the austerity measure, government especially local government units purchasing goods and services were exempted in the value added tax.

The newly implemented evat does not anymore exempt the government from paying value added taxes when buying services and goods. This tax measure will also again cover products and services including food, oil, electricity, wholesale and retail products, water services, agricultural products, among others. Although some products and services will not be affected including tuition fees, many will still be affected.

There are both positive and negative effects of evat on different sectors of the society. For sure, this will affect most of the private businesses, motorists and commuters because of the continuous oil price hike. Households will also be affected because of its impact on the electricity and water consumptions. And the government itself because of the additional cost on the products and services they avail from the private sector.

One of the positive outcome of the implementation of evat is that it will yield to more government revenues. In fact, the government expects to generate about four to five billion pesos this year alone from the expanded vat. In turn, this will ensure that the government can provide as many quality services to its citizenry. Medical, educational, infrastructure are, but some of the services that can be given to the people.

A good portion of the new tax measure will go to pay our debts to other countries. Actually, the debt service in 2004 was equivalent to 86.1% of the total revenues generated. This is a large portion since this will mean only less than 15% will go to local government services. From the perspective of our international investors, this will be a good shot for the country because additional tax means capacity to pay loans from other countries. Once the investor confidence on the taxation system is high, more and more investments await locally.

Although, generally, evat is for a good cause, there are more than enough reasons why evat should not continue to be implemented. First, evat is not a pro-poor system. It will only make the poor poorer. Even if the government said that it will not affect the poor, this is not true. The government claims that 80% of evat will come from those in big businesses and the rich. However, they cannot safely say that in that 80%, large portion of the income of different businesses also comes from their buyers, which is the majority poor. Evat does not exempt anyone from paying taxes. Actually, when a person buys products or services, the poor is not exempted from paying taxes. Taxes are included when a person buys products.

Evat will also cause possible chain effect increase in products since evat will affect oil prices. Ever since the oil deregulation law was passed, prices of gasoline continued to double. Before the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order on evat was lifted, gasoline prices were about midway of thirty pesos. But after lifting the TRO, gasoline prices burst to almost forty pesos. This marked one of the biggest increase in gasoline prices. For sure, the transport sector will be greatly affected and might ask for another increase in their minimum fare. Almost all sectors depend on gasoline and transportation and increase in oil cost might cause possible chain effect on the many products.

It is also a fact that corruption is rampant in the Philippines, as evidenced by a study showing that the country is one of the most corrupt nations in Asia next to Bangladesh. Unless the government secures safety nets for evat against corruption, evat will be in danger for a greater probability of corruption. The government must solve corruption first since a large portion of government revenues fall in the wrong hands. Once corruption if solved, evat may no longer be necessary to be implemented.

Implementing evat is also not a solution to generate funds to pay for international debts. One alternative solution to increase government revenues is to intensify the collection of the BIR. Nevertheless, if the people and businesses will just pay the right amount of taxes, we can generate enough money both for government services and debt pay. In fact, last year, the government collected more than a billion just in tax evasion cases.

Although implementing E-VAT as a new tax measure will ease the financial woes of the Philippines, it is not the answer to the deteriorating government revenues. It will only add to the dozens of problems that our country is currently facing. Thus, there are better issues to address first such as corruption, intensifying the collection of taxes, and the continuous oil price increase.

DREAM GADGET OF THE WEEK

Sony Ericsson P990 Cellphone

This future mobile phone is an almost all-in-one gadget. It will be released anytime in the first quarter of 2006. You can surf the internet whether using 802.11b/ wifi technology or with the upcoming 3G technology here in the Philippines - or if you still want to stick to GPRS technology.=p

For sure, you can enjoy maximum mobility with this phone. You can store up to 4 GB of data - that's big enough for MP3's, pictures, movies, and other personal files. But of course, you need to buy that Sony Memory Stick Duo which costs a lot. By the way, this phone has a 2 - megapixel camera including a flash and an autofocus feature. There is also another camera infront of the phone designed for 3G video calls. Maximum connectivity can also be attained with its bluetooth, infrared, and USB port.

Other features include FM Radio, Java games, office applications, and a lot more. I hope to see this phone soon in the market. No money to buy. =p hehe

Reaction to Office Ergonomics Training: Pros and Cons of Ergonomic Office Equipment

Is it really cost effective when an office implements ergonomics in their company? Having read the article in this page, the question now is should we really implement ergonomics?

The demands for ergonomics today is very high as many work-related postures today are static, which means that workers stay at a certain position for a long period of time. In this manner, offices invest a lot of money for ergonomics including office equipments. A clear example of this is the height-adjustable tables which costs very expensive. Although these equipments may have pros and cons, it is safe to say that ergonomics is a necessity for a company. But looking at another perspective, different people have different levels of comfortability. Companies should invest in not just in any ergo-certified office equipement but they should buy flexible equipment that their employees can surely be comfortable, thus increasing work efficiency. This means that the company should allow their workers to choose the best variation of ergonomic equipment that suit them.

In the article, it is evident that a user often commits error in using these equipment properly, thus causing a 'misuse'. This can be attributed to lack of knowledge of the users regarding these 'specially-designed' office equipment. Some users might have not been oriented to what the equipment is capable of doing. For example, a user may not know that the tables' height can be adjusted or the user may not know how to utilize the monitor arm. Companies should not just rely on equipment alone and conclude that they are 'ergonomic-friendly' company. They should also consider that these equipement may not be used properly thus forfeiting its purpose. Companies should also consider orienting their employees on ergonomics so that their lifestyle (such as posture) will also adapt. Ergonomics may be costly but is very beneficial.

cheese co.


CHEESE CO. AVATAR

My avatar is composed of a flower, a mug, and a butterfly. They are respresentations of who I am today. The colors of the objects are yellow, red, and blue (although mixed), which are for the mug, tulip, and the butterfly respectively. The mug symbolizes my like for coffee - cold or hot coffee. The flower represents my love for nature and its elements. The flower also symbolizes the person I love. The butterfly symbolizes my life as a continues development and growth. It also conveys attraction to different things in life. Although this may seem to be an utopia, the avatar is one of my goal in life, simplicity beyond life's complexity.

I and Patricia @ Dusit, Dec 9 2005

This is my first post! hehe =p

I still have to finish my avatar, anmath homework, and engltwo essay. Bye!