The finance department’s proposed new taxes for the new administration are for paying off the Duterte government’s relentless borrowing for its infrastructure and debt servicing fetish, not much-needed COVID-19 response, research group IBON said. The proposed tax measures will be mainly borne by poor and ordinary Filipinos still recovering from the government’s excessive lockdowns and stingy subsidies, said the group.The Department of Finance (DOF) recently listed revenue-raising measures for the next administration to supposedly shrink debt and ensure productive spending. These include higher personal income taxes, more goods and services to be covered by the value added tax (VAT), and more taxes on sweet drinks.(Read story…)