A bill that seeks to increase motorists’ road user tax by as much as 300 percent has been filed at the House of Representatives.
Albay Rep. Joey Salcada, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, filed House Bill 4695, seeking to impose a hefty 300-percent increase in the motor vehicle user’s charge (MUVC).
That road user tax is to be collected through the Land Transportation Office in the form of higher annual vehicle registration fees.
Should the proposed bill pass into law, around 11 million Filipino vehicle owners, including motorcycle riders, are set to pay higher annual registration fees.
The lawmaker’s proposal is similar to the Department of Finance’s, which also seeks to ramp up the MUVC by more than 300 percent.
Salceda earlier said that he was rejecting the DOF’s proposal.
“If we adopt it, we will have 11 million more enemies,” he said.
The STAR reported that Salceda would endorse a lower increase of “90-91 percent of existing rates over three years, or 30 percent each year beginning next year.”
Under his proposed measure, the road user tax on cars with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 1,600 kilograms (kg) will go up from the present P800 to P2,912 next year, P3,028 in 2021 and P3,056 in 2022.
The vehicles’ MVUC with a GVW of 1,600 kg to 2,300 kg will grow from from P1,800 to P6,552 in 2020, P6,814 in 2021 and P6,876 in 2022. Meanwhile, vehicles exceeding the 2,300 kg in gross weight will see registration rise from P4,000 to P14,560, P15,142 and P15,280 in the next three years.
From the present tax of P1,000, utilitiy vehicles with GVW of up to 2,700 kg could also shoulder a hefty increase by P3,640, P3,785, and P3,820 from 2020 up to 2022.
Weight in excess of 2,700 kg would be charged P2,700 for every 100 kg. – With Jess Diaz/STAR
