Tuba not affected by Sin Tax Reform Law implementation

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
January 7, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY – Tuba aficionados need not worry that the price of their favorite coconut toddy will increase.

The price of tuba or coconut toddy which is the native wine in Eastern Visayas or in the Visayas for that matter, will not be affected by the Sin Tax Reform Law of 2012 which took effect on January 1, 2013.

Bureau of Internal Revenue Tacloban Assistant District Revenue Officer Susan Cabello said the Implementing Rules and Regulations that paved the way for the effectively of Republic Act 10351 or An Act Restructuring the Excise Tax on Alcohol and Tobacco issued on December 21, was very definite on this issue.

Section 3 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10351 reads “Section 143 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended by Republic Act No. 9334, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

SEC. 143. Fermented Liquors. – There shall be levied, assessed and collected an excise tax on beer, lager beer, ale, porter and other fermented liquors except tuba, basi, tapuy and similar fermented liquors in accordance with the following schedule: Effective on January 1, 2013…”

The National Internal Revenue Code of 1977 did not include tuba because it is not qualified as a big time industry, it is only a small time business, the BIR Tacloban District Revenue official added.

Thus, it is clear that tuba is exempted from the implementation of RA 10351. Also exempted are basi which is the native wine of the Ilocanos and tapuy which is the native rice wine of the people in the Mountain Province.

Tuba is made through a process of extracting the sap of an unopened coconut bud. It has a stinging sweet and bittersweet taste. The tip of the bud is lopped and the pale juice allowed to trickle into bamboo containers. A sturdy tree yields about a gallon of liquid daily.

From coconut water, comes a syrup concentrate for tuba. Tuba is a sweet, fresh or mildly fermented sap taken from tapping the young expanded flowers of the coconut. Tuba is clean because it really has natural contents. It is a natural juice from the coconut, so it has nutrients and vitamins that are also found in the coconut tree itself. And the barok (powdered mangrove bark) which gives the orange-red color to the tuba, is also a natural product.

There are known health benefits of tuba, thus, it became more popular among those living in rural areas because it is where big coconut plantations are found. Tuba is cheaper than other artificial medicines used to cure the ailments or other health problems. This kind of vinegar acts as heat trapper, thus people with fever wipe tuba vinegar all over their body. Other people use the vinegar as disinfectant for dog bites and wounds.

BIR Revenue Regulation 17-2012 dated Dec. 21, 2012, prescribes higher tax rates on tobacco and alcohol products.

For distilled spirits, the excise tax rate, based on the net retail price per proof, is 15 percent from January 1, 2013 until Jan. 1, 2014. The rate will increase to 20 percent effective January 2015 onwards.

The excise tax on fermented liquor including beer is P15 per liter for products whose net retail price per liter of volume capacity is P50.60 or less effective Jan. 1, 2013. This will go up to P17 per liter in 2014; P19 per liter in 2015; P21 per liter in 2016 and P23.50 per liter in 2017.

For cigarettes packed by machine and with a net retail price per pack of P11.50 and below, the excise tax rate is P12 per pack effective Jan. 1, 2013.

The rate will increase to P17 per pack in 2014, P21 per pack in 2015, P25 per pack in 2016 and P30 per pack in 2017.

Spot check at several retails outlets in Tacloban showed an increase of P5 in one bottle of Beer Grande and Red Horse, from P60/bottle to P65/bottle.