The Department of Finance (DOF) said its revenue office (RO) has processed a total of 254 applications for tax and duty exemptions for the import of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines worth P8.7 billion, as of end-December 2021.
Antonette Tionko, DOF undersecretary, said these approved applications that were issued tax exemption indorsements (TEIs) were from the total of 276 such requests that were received from vaccine importers by the office last year.
“The foregone revenues from these TEIs of P8.699 billion represent 37 percent of the P23.4 billion of the total tax and duty exemptions processed by the ROG (Revenue Operations Group) last year,” said DOF Assistant Secretary Dakila Elteen Napao of the ROG.
“Estimated foregone revenue is returning to its pre-pandemic figure of P23.9 billion in 2019. However, this is primarily due to the foregone revenue attributable to importations of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as importations of items related to COVID-19 response,” Napao added.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier approved the inclusion of all importations of COVID-19 vaccines in the “Mabuhay” or express lane of the RO to allow the quick processing within 24 hours of the tax and duty exemptions of these vital shipments.
He had also approved the waiving of filing fees for COVID-19 vaccine applications under the Mabuhay Lane and the use of the Tax Exemption System Online Filing Module in processing the vaccine imports to further support the government’s speedy rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination program.
Napao said the RO also issued TEIs to 823 applications for value-added tax (VAT) exemptions on imports of COVID-19 medicines and medical devices, which resulted in foregone VAT revenues of P382.1 million in 2021. – Ruelle Castro
