THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) are seeking a slash in the taxes for  casino and lotto winnings. 

Under the proposed Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA) that is now the subject of deliberations by  the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, the tax rate on passive income will be simplified at 15 percent in hopes to increase compliance. 

The next public hearing on the tax measure, PCSO Chairman Junie Cua explained that they wanted to halve the tax on lotto winnings to 10 percent from 20 percent for the benefit of poor bettors.

“’Yong mga tumataya kasi sa lotto, karamihan ay mahihirap. ‘Yong mga konting natira sa araw-araw yun ang pinantataya. We feel that the winners are mostly people who are needy and therefore baka pwedeng ibaba yung (maybe we can reduce the) tax on winnings,” Cua said. 

According to the PCSO, they are aiming to cut its documentary stamp tax (DST) obligations to 10 percent from 20 percent. 

Atty. Kat Contacto of PCSO said the charity fund last year reached P18.3 billion, but 67 percent or P12.2 billion went to DST. 

“The bettors are very price sensitive. Eventually, ang ginawa po ni PCSO unti-unti pong tinanggal ang pagpasa sa bettors ng DST. Eventually, ‘yong agency po ang sumalo just to keep the attractiveness po ‘yong presyo ng ticket,” Contacto said.