Philippine Book Importers Told To Attack Government In Court

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

22 May 2009

Angry book importers have been told to attack the government in court over the introduction of a 5% levy on foreign book imports, after the country's Department of Finance (DoF) refused to withdraw the measure.

In a bid to increase government revenues, the Philippine government went ahead with a plan to raise the import levy on foreign reading material from 1 to 5% in March of this year.

Objections have been raised over the fact that it goes against the Florence Agreement - a treaty the Philippines struck with over 100 other countries in 1952, which allows the duty-free entry of educational, scientific, and cultural materials.

Responding to this backlash, the country's Finance Undersecretary Estela Sales remarked:

"We studied the 1-5% duty for a long time and asked for feedback, after which we decided to push ahead.”

“We have clear legal basis for the imposition of customs duty on imported books and reading materials under Section 105 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. We have studied the matter thoroughly and consulted with certain people so as not to provoke adverse reaction,” she added.

Sales has now advised that those in disagreement with the new tariff should raise their concerns in court, rather than with the DoF.

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