House bill seeks VAT exemption for all essential medicines
A House bill seeking to exempt all essential medicines from the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) was filed on Monday to “lessen the burden” on Filipinos and help government comply with its responsibility to protect and promote people’s right to health.
House Bill No. 9564, filed by ACT Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Sarah Jane Elago and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, seeks to exempt essential medicines and drugs from VAT.
The bill also seeks to exempt select nutritional food from the levy, covering products containing micronutrients or those sold solely for the purpose of meeting the dietary needs of those experiencing digestion issues, malnutrition, obesity, kidney problems, diabetes, hypertension and cancer.
Tinio noted that only 2,263 medicines, or 5 percent of the 50,000 purchased by the government, currently qualify for VAT exemptions, leaving common drugs such as paracetamol, vitamins and antibiotics taxable.
More expensive
“Filipinos pay 259 to 1,600 percent more for medicines than patients in India, Pakistan, and Thailand,” he said in a statement.
Tinio added that “the 12 percent VAT on most medicines adds to the burden of poor families” so when illness strikes, “they are forced to choose: buy medicine or eat?”
Republic Act No. 11534, or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act only exempts from VAT the sale and importation of medicine for “diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis and kidney diseases.”
