PHILIPPINES: The Land Transportation Office (LTO) started enforcing a new scheme for the registration of brand-new motor vehicles. LTO Assistant Secretary Anelie Lontoc said the scheme would have a validity of three years.

She said the LTO has decided on the new validity period to get in advance the estimated P1.2 billion that the government would earn in three years if the registration of new motor vehicles was done annually.

"This will also give some peace and comfort to our car owners because they do not have to go back to us yearly until that third year," Lontoc said.

Besides earning P1.2 billion for 2005, she said the three-year validity period would enable LTO to get rid of fixers.

She also clarified that there would be no increase in registration fees, although new car owners would have to pay in full the registration for three years.

With the new scheme, new owners of light vehicles will have to pay three times the P1, 600 they pay for a one year registration; medium-type vehicles, three times of P3, 600; heavy vehicles, three times of P8, 000, and motorcycles, three times of P240.

Lontoc said there is also no increase in the fees paid for applying for a drivers license. This, despite the circular issued by the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management that fees and services being collected by government agencies have to be increased.

Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong had said they have required government agencies to increase the fees they collect for providing services and processing of documents for the public.

"These agencies need to cover at least the cost of services that they render," Amatong said.

The government expects to generate some P1.5-billion revenue from the increase of charges and fees.

Boncodin and Amatong said while the Congress are busy with the Executive Department’s additional revenue measure proposals, the administration made its own move to generate additional income for the country’s coffers.

Besides the increase in fees and charges in government agencies, the executive order increasing the tariff on petroleum products by two-percentage points is already being implemented by the government since January 1.

Amatong said they have also mandated the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to raise their target collections.

Amatong said the government is expecting to raise about P759 billion in 2005 compared to the government’s target of P698 billion in 2004.

"That is quite a substantial increase [because] while revenues are going to be increased, there is also an increase in expenditures particularly on the government’s assumption on the debt of the National Power Corp.," Amatong explained.

In the projected P759-billion revenue to be generated in 2005, Amatong said they have not yet included the revenues that will be generated from the new tax measures.

Source:
The Manila Times