INTERNATIONAL airlines will either start flying to the Philippines or add more flights to the country once the government removes taxes currently levied on them, tourism stakeholders said yesterday.
Other airlines, meanwhile, are planning on adding flights starting mid-2013, provided the common carriers tax and gross billings tax are removed before then.
"It will signal to the world we are getting our act together and that all the components that will boost Philippine tourism are being addressed," Aileen C. Clemente, FTIP interim president, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Airlines currently need to pay a 3% common carriers tax or percentage tax on a ticket sold to a passenger. Foreign carriers also have to pay a 2.5% gross billings tax.
The Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill (SB) 3343 that seeks to abolish the common carriers and gross billings taxes last Dec. 18. A counterpart bill in the House, House Bill (HB) 6022 was passed in May 21.
The bills also provide a reciprocity clause, which basically grants tax exemption for foreign carriers whose mother country likewise gives a similar tax exemption to Philippine carriers.
A bicameral committee will meet in January to reconcile the two bills.
Some foreign airlines have chosen to either stop direct flights to the Philippines or halt operations in the country altogether because of the two taxes.
The PTAA said it supports the removal of the taxes.
"We have seen number of seats available to the Philippines dwindle because of [the taxes] and this is not good for us as different parts of the country are largely reachable only by air," John Paul M. Cabalza, PTAA president, was quoted as saying in the same statement. -- E. N. J. David
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