Tax reform advocate Mon Abrea is pressing for full digitization and structural overhaul to rebuild confidence in the Philippine tax system, arguing that credible reform is key to unlocking investment.
Speaking at the Pandesal Forum on Tuesday, February 17, Abrea outlined proposals from his open letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., calling for a comprehensive strategy rather than piecemeal tax measures.
“Meaningful change requires more than isolated tax measures. It requires a comprehensive, strategic approach,” he wrote.
Abrea laid out three priority reforms. First, he urged immediate relief measures for taxpayers, including abolishing the travel tax, cutting value added tax to 10 percent from 12 percent, and raising income tax exemption thresholds. He said these steps would make the system fairer, simpler and more competitive in the region.
Second, he called for swift adoption of the OECD Global Minimum Tax, a framework designed to ensure large multinational corporations pay at least a baseline rate regardless of where they operate.
Abrea estimated the Philippines may have forgone more than P50 billion annually by not imposing top up taxes on major multinational enterprises, revenue he said could be collected without increasing the burden on local taxpayers.
Third, he renewed his proposal to create a National Revenue Authority that would merge the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs into a single institution.
Under the plan, tax and customs data would be consolidated into one digital platform, enabling AI driven risk based audits and limiting human discretion that fuels corruption. The envisioned authority would adopt corporate style governance, fiscal autonomy for modernization and performance based compensation.
“Tax administration reform is investment reform,” Abrea said, arguing that redesigning the system would restore trust, boost compliance and strengthen long term growth.
