Entrepreneurial Farmer

by: Ambrosio R. Villorente

More Taxes Than Plane Base Fare

On June 15, 2008, just last week, I went to Kalibo from Manila via the Cebu Pacific Airline on a 9:45 A.M. flight. For that flight, I was charged P1,669.00. In the official receipt, the P1,669.00 was broken down as follows:

A. P152.00 for “Base Fare”; P179.00 for “Valued Added Tax”; and P1,338.00 for “YQ”. This YQ I was told is for fuel surcharges.

Wow! The government gets more money from the passengers’ fare than the airline. Just imagine, out of P1,669, only P152 is for base fare of Cebu Pacific while P179 is for VAT, P27 higher than the base fare. Moreover, the biggest slice of P1,338 goes to fuel surcharges, a good portion of it is also paid as tax.

On top of these, a P200.00 terminal fee is charged to all passengers who ride in the plane.

This explains why Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is continuously distributing P500 to all families in Metro Manila whose electric power consumption of not more than 100 Kwhs per month. Well, this is good for those who receive. On the other hand, it is worst for those who consume more even if they are producers of goods or service thereby contributing to the gross domestic product. This dole out encourages more mendicancy. Mrs. Arroyo just distributes the cash as if it came from her own purse. She does not mention that the money came from the taxpayers.