The Department of Finance (DOF) is advocating for increased income-based taxes and royalties from mining firms, higher than the proposed fiscal regime by the House of Representatives.
The refined DOF proposal included margin-based royalties and a windfall tax on large-scale miners, aiming to generate at least Php 47 billion in incremental revenues from 2024 to 2028, said Inquirer in its report.
These modifications look to refine House Bill (HB) No. 8937, which was passed in September of last year.
Under the House Bill, the government would only be allowed to collect margin-based royalty ranging from 1 to 5% in income from mining operations that were outside of mineral reserves.
However, the DOF suggested increasing the royalty rate to 1.5 to 5% using a simplified four-tier structure to lessen the incentives received by the private sector and imposing a four-tier margin-based windfall profits tax rate ranging from 1.5 to 10% on mining operations’ income.
Should be implemented, the rate would surpass the 1 to 10% rate stipulated in the bill, which would employ a ten-tier structure.