I.

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act,

officially cited as Republic Act No. 10963,is the initial package of the
Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) signed into law by
President Rodrigo Duterte on December 19, [Link], greater
income is taxed at higher tax [Link] we all know,Train law is a newly
implemented law where taxes are imposed on sweetened goods,oil
and gas and rather than on the low wage [Link] me,it is very
beneficial why because the workers who are earning small amount
salary will be exempted from taxes and because of that, their
purchasing power will increase,In short,they will be able to buy their
needs and wants even if its prices went up as a result of train law. On
the other side,the tax that will be collected will be spent for the
improvement and development of the nation. So,there is nothing to
worry about [Link] only problem that will only occur is that if people will
not discipline their buying behaviour which will cause them to have not
enough money to buy their [Link] government is just doing its
job,which is for the betterment of its place and people, what we can
do to support this,is just discipline ourselves and trust the government.

The lowering of personal income tax (PIT) rates under the

proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) are
in sync with the practices of other countries in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to the National Tax
Research Center (NTRC).According to NTRC Executive Director
Trinidad Rodriguez said the TRAIN, which exempts those earning a
taxable income of P250,000 and below from paying the PIT, is along
the same thresholds set by other economies in the region such as
Malaysia, Singapore, and [Link] said Singapore, for
instance, sets a tax-exempt threshold of 20,000 Singapore dollars,
which is equivalent to P738,000, while Thailand’s threshold is 150,000
baht, or around P228,[Link] Malaysia, the threshold is 5,000 ringgits
or P60,000; for Cambodia, 150,000 riels or P82,188; Laos, 12 million
kips or P74,400; Myanmar, 2 million kyat or P76,000, Rodriguez said.

According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the proposed

PIT cuts in the TRAIN will exempt some 83 percent of taxpayers from
income taxation, giving them the much-needed relief after 20 years of
non-adjustment of the tax [Link] will actually benefit 99 percent of
families/households because of the hefty PIT cuts for salaried workers
and the unconditional cash transfers for the poorest families, said the
DOF.“The minimum wage in these respective countries are well
covered by the exemption, by the exempt threshold, similar to us.
That’s on the PIT schedule,” NTRC’s Rodriguez said during one of the
earlier hearings held on the TRAIN by the Senate ways and means
committee chaired by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.
The Senate ways and means committee began the deliberations on
the TRAIN, which was filed in the chamber by Senate President
Aquilino Pimentel III as Senate Bill (SB) No.1408,last [Link]
Senate began conducting plenary debates on the revised measure,
SB 1592, on Nov. 22 and finally approved it with substantial
amendments last November [Link] first package of the Duterte
administration’s tax reform program—TRAIN—aims to lower personal
income tax rates while, at the same time, widening the base for the
value-added tax and adjusting excise tax rates for fuel and
automobiles, among other reform [Link] the Senate-
approved SB 1592, the first P250,000 annual taxable income will be
exempted from tax, plus the P82,000 tax exemption for 13th month
pay and other bonuses. This translates into an approximate tax-free
monthly income of P21,[Link] calculations also show that even with
the slightly higher expenses that taxpayers would incur under the
TRAIN’s revenue-enhancing provisions, the increases in their take
home pay would more than offset these would-be additional costs.

INFLATION in Northern Mindanao more than doubled to 3.3 percent in 2017

from 1.4 percent in 2016, even before the tax reform package could take effect.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)-Northern Mindanao
reported an inflation rate of 3.9 percent in the last quarter of 2017, the highest in
the last three quarters, following price increases in most commodity [Link]
said price increases in alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear;
recreation and culture; health; furnishing, household equipment and routine
maintenance of the house; and in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels
pushed up the overall [Link] the provinces in the region, Camiguin
recorded the highest inflation rate of 4.5 percent in 2017, more than four times the
2016 rate of 0.2 [Link] was followed by the province of Lanao del Norte with
an average inflation rate of 4.4 percent; Misamis Occidental, 3.7 percent; Misamis
Oriental, 3.3 percent; and Bukidnon, 2.8 [Link] Cañete, Neda-Northern
Mindanao chief regional economic specialist, said the regional inflation rate is "still
a very manageable inflation rate" and is within government targets."Considering
our target is in the range of 2 to 4 percent," Cañete said, adding that in the past
years, the annual inflation rate of Northern Mindanao has gone up to 10 percent or
more. Cañete asked the public not to look only at one side of the situation, saying
that even though the prices of the commodities are rising, it is still within a
manageable [Link] Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law has
not been implemented when the surge in inflation rate was reported in 2017 as the
Train Law took effect on January 1, 2018.
 TRAIN is truly comprehensive, and it addresses the serious problems that
plague our tax system. Among the problems: an individual income tax system that
is unfair and inequitable, corporate taxation that is uncompetitive, redundancy of
nontransparent fiscal incentives resulting in incalculable revenues forgone, specific
excise taxes that are not adjusted to inflation leading to revenue erosion
(petroleum products), low taxes for goods that impose a higher cost to society than
what their prices show (alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy food), well-intended laws that
ironically abet tax evasion (law on secrecy of bank deposits), and complex rules
that enable tax avoidance and make tax compliance [Link] part of the
package, TRAIN will reduce the effective individual income tax rates for all
individuals, except for the richest of the rich, those who anyway bask in the glory
of being ranked and recognized as the country’s top 500 individual income tax
payers. This proposal is most fair and progressive. At present, because of the
failure to adjust the income tax brackets, resulting in “creeping income” over time,
a professional like a senior public school teacher is categorized in the same tax
rate bracket as the top 500 individual [Link] because the individual income
tax reform will lead to substantial revenue losses, offsetting tax measures are
necessary.

Research Objectives