For Immediate Release
5 September 2022
In the recently conducted press conference organized by AMRECO (Association of Mindanao Electric Cooperatives), PHILRECA General Manager and Executive Director Atty. Janeene Depay-Colingan discussed the breakdown of payments collected by the Electric Cooperatives from their member-consumer-owners. It was clarified by Atty. Colingan that 8% of the total charges being paid to the electric cooperatives are remitted to the Bureau and Internal Revenue. Said taxes include VAT, Energy Tax, Local Franchise Tax, Business Tax, and Real Property Tax.
Atty. Colingan also mentioned that PHILRECA has been vocal in its position on the taxes charged to consumers. Consumers are currently paying taxes for the services provided by each sector within the country’s energy supply chain; and although taxes are being paid more than once, only electricity as the sole end-product is being delivered to households for the consumers to enjoy.
From January 2021-December 2021 alone, a total of Php 11,067,515 worth of taxes were charged to the consumers. It can also be observed from the data that taxes constantly increase throughout the year.
Further, a total of Php 3,615,126,570 worth of taxes were collected from the consumers and remitted to the government from January 2022-March 2022.
A total amount of more than Php 14 billion is expected to have benn collected and remitted to the government from January 2022-March 2022.
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With these data, it can be emphasized that being a staunch partner of the government, ECs do not only bring liwanag at pag asa sa bawat kabahayan na kanilang pinagsisilbihan, but also acts as reliable tax collector for the government.
Atty. Colingan also reiterated that the DSM charged by the electric cooperatives to their consumers have always been the same since 2010. On the other hand, other bill components, including taxes, have been constantly increasing. In order to decrease electricity rates, PHILRECA also continues to seek the consideration of legislators to review how taxes for electricity bills are computed. There is an urgent need to conduct a careful review on VAT charges – electricity rate should be taxed once, instead of multiple times in the supply chain.
Further, there is also a call to review the taxes imposed on ECs being non-stock, non-profit organizations. Said taxes should be limited only on undertakings or services generated outside of its members. Taxes imposed on income taxes shall also undergo review, considering that there are no revenues generated from the members the ECs serve.
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