煙草在線據《馬尼拉時報》報道編譯　　菲律賓的菲莫福川煙草公司希望頒行允許對罪惡產品征收有效消費稅計劃的法案版本，而不是財政部的法案版本。

　　菲莫福川煙草公司的總裁克里斯·尼爾森在媒體吹風會上說：“煙草業有270萬人在就業。如果你們看一下釀酒業，他們的估計是有500萬人就業。因此，換言之，這些產業聘用著770萬人。單一的稅制顯然會給這個國家的就業前景帶來嚴重的后果。”

　　在財政部長Cesar Purisima向煙農保證，一旦財政部的罪惡稅提案版本得到頒行，會提供補貼，使他們能夠轉種其他經濟作物之后，菲莫福川煙草公司舉行了這次記者招待會。

　　他說，菲莫福川煙草公司強烈希望頒行接近于Ilocos Sur的共和黨議員Eric Singson提出的允許繼續實施現行稅制的法案版本。另一方面，財政部的罪惡稅法案版本試圖改變現行的消費稅多稅率結構，采用單一稅制。

　　政府說，如果實施新的罪惡稅，煙草產品將額外產生600億比索的稅收，而不是當前的300億比索。

　　尼爾森說：“（如果采用單一稅制的話），我認為非法貿易會呈指數增長。它不會對需求產生影響，但只會對需求的供應產生影響。另一個需要處理的關鍵問題是稅務管理。”

　　占據著菲律賓至少90%市場份額的菲莫福川煙草公司，是菲利普莫里斯國際公司與Lucio Tan的福川煙草公司組建的合資公司。

　　目前，菲律賓對每包卷煙征收的最低稅率為2.72比索。尼爾森說，根據財政部的提案，菲莫福川煙草公司在三年內將要支付大約每包30比索的煙稅，也就是增長1000%以上。

　　他說：“那是從未聽說過的，沒有人真正這么做過。根據那些大幅提稅的國家——但提高的幅度也低于菲律賓的稅率提高幅度——他們已經產生了嚴重的問題。”

　　他說，在對這些罪惡產品提高消費稅率之后，菲莫福川煙草公司發現非法貿易已經在馬來西亞、香港甚至新加坡等國“出現大幅增長”。

Philip Morris rejects DOF tax measure

Manila Times
Feb 22, 2012

　　PHILIP Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) wants the version of the bill that allows for the continuity of the subsisting excise tax scheme on sin products be enacted versus that of the Department of Finance' version.

　　"The tobacco industry has 2.7 million people in employment. If you look at the alcohol industry, their estimate is 5 million people. So in other words, these industries employ 7.7 million people. A unitary tax system will obviously have severe repercussions on employment prospects in this country," Chris Nelson, president of PMFTC said in a press briefing.

　　The press conference was held after Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima assured tobacco farmers of subsidy to enable them to shift to other cash crops once the department's version of sin tax bill is enacted.

　　He said that the company strongly prefers a version of the bill closer to that of Rep. Eric Singson Jr. of Ilocos Sur, which allows the continuation of the current scheme. The Department of Finance version of the sin tax bill, on the other hand, seeks to change the current multi-rate specific structure of the of the excise tax by adopting a unitary rate.

　　The government said that with the new six tax in place, an additional P60 billion in taxes will be generated a year from tobacco products versus the current P30 billion.

　　"I think the illicit trade would grow exponentially [if the unitary tax is applied]. It may not impact the demand, but will only have an impact on the supply of that demand. The other key issue which needs to be addressed, is tax administration," Nelson said.

　　The PMFTC which accounts for at least 90 percent of the country's tobacco inudstry is the combined company of Philip Morris Philippines and Lucio Tan's Fortune Tobacco.

　　At present, the lowest tax imposed is P2.72 per pack of cigarette. Under the DOF proposal, the firm will be paying some P30 in three years, or more than 1,000 percent increase, Nelson said.

　　"That's unheard of no one has actually done that. And based on those countries which took a large increase—but less than that—they already had severe problems," he said.

　　He said that the company saw illicit trade has "risen substantially" in countries such as Malaysia, Hong Kong and even Singapore after the imposition of higher excise tax on these products.