Owning a car comes with great responsibility. It has its own pros and cons that every motorist has to consider.
Yes, you get to travel at your own leisure without having to vie for space in public transport, but having your own set of wheels also entails a great deal of obligation that may sometimes outweigh the perks.
Aside from the lingering traffic situation and volatile gas prices, car ownership also requires tons of money just to maintain your vehicle in tip-top shape. That’s just to name a few.
Sad to say, it seems that motorists have to brace themselves for another impact this year just to keep their vehicles on the road.
In a Philippine Star report, a bill seeking to increase by as much as 90 per cent the cost of keeping a car has been overwhelmingly approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading.
The Motor Vehicle Road Users’ Tax (MVRUT), or more popularly known as the “road users’ tax,” is the annual registration fee that the government, through the Land Transportation Office, collects from more than 11 million vehicles.
What gives?
Well, if you own similar light vehicles weighing up to 1,600 kilos such as a Toyota Vios or a Honda Civic Type-R for instance, the tax would go up by 30 per cent from the present P1,600 to P2,080, or an additional P480 in the first year of its implementation.
But here’s the real kicker. On the second and third year, this will go further up to P2,560 and P3,040, respectively, for light vehicles, which comprise the bulk of motor vehicles all over the country.
If you happen to be an owner of an SUV or other types of vehicles like utility vehicles, buses, trucks, and trailers, their rates will be based on a uniform per kilogram of gross vehicle weight (GVW): P1.40/kg of GVW on the first year, P2.50/kg of GVW on the second year, and P3.40/kg of GVW on the third year.
What that means is that if a driver owns a Hilux, which has a gross weight of 2,755 kilos, he or she would have to pay a road tax of P3,857 on the first year, P5,372.25 on the second year, and P6,887.50 on the third year, excluding miscellaneous fees and the additional levy for the car’s load-bearing capacity.
For vehicles weighing over 1,600 kilos but below 2,300 kilos, the road users’ tax will increase to P4,680 in 2020, P5,760 in 2021, and P6,840 in 2022.
On the other hand, the MVRUT for vehicles weighing above 2,300 kilos will increase to P10,400 on the first year, P12,800 on the second year and P15,200 on the third year.
On the fourth year of the MVRUT, there would be a uniform rate of P1.42 per kilogram based on the vehicle’s gross weight, with subsequent annual increment of five percent. What this means is that a light vehicle would be levied P2,272 in road user’s tax by 2023.
To ensure that inflation does not erode the value of revenues, however, an annual increase of five percent will be imposed by Jan. 1, 2023 through revenue regulations to be issued by the Department of Finance.
But of course, the lingering question now is – why do we have to pay more in the next five years? Well, it’s for a good cause, actually.
All of the funds which would be collected through the road users’ tax will be used to finance the modernization of the public utility vehicles and the massive infrastructure projects under the Build Build Build program that would ultimately benefit all of us.