Last week, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved the removal of the excise tax exemption for pickups, among other measures aimed at alleviating the country’s debt problems. Worried? Don’t worry, because so is the rest of the auto industry.
During a pre-show press conference for the 2022 Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS), Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) president Atty. Rommel Gutierrez expressed the local auto industry’s sentiments regarding the move.
According to Gutierrez, nothing is set in stone yet—but car manufacturers are already thinking about how the market will react to the imposition of excise taxes on pickups.
“There’s actually no bill filed yet specifically for that. It’s just a rider of an existing bill. Still subject to discussion. Of course, we are concerned about additions to taxes. As we know, consumers or demand for vehicles are price-sensitive, so this will definitely impact the prices,” the official said.
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Gutierrez added that the industry is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed, however, that CAMPI will continue to work with the Philippine government.
“We are still recovering. We expressed concern, initially, but we will continue working with the government,” he said. “If you recall the issue with safeguard duties before, we were able to handle it with government, to strike a balance.”
And since we’re in the subject of pickup-truck prices, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is hiking the prices of local Hilux units by as much as P49,000. You can read more about this development here.
Well, all we can do in the meantime is sit tight and hope for the best. Do you think the removal of the excise tax exemption for pickup units is justified?
