Following the recent announcement of several medicines declared exempted from the value-added tax (VAT), nineteen more medicines became VAT-exempt as a result of the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), according to a news article by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…
Nineteen maintenance and lifesaving medicines have been included in the list of those exempted from value added tax (VAT), benefiting more people.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr., during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing on Thursday, said nine medicines were included under Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 59-2025 issued on June 11, 2025 while the other 10 are covered by RMC 62-2025.
He said the inclusion of the medications for VAT exemption was based on the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Of the total, seven of these medicines are for cancer treatment; three each for diabetes, hypertension and mental illness; one each for high cholesterol, kidney disease, and tuberculosis.
“Ang mga ito ay mga maintenance at lifesaving medicines na ngayon ay hindi na papatawan ng VAT. Isang kongkretong hakbang para mas mapagaan ang gastuhin ng mga pasyente (These are maintenance and lifesaving medicines that will now be exempt from VAT. This move is a concrete step to lower patients’ expenses),” Lumagui said.
The BIR chief said both the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law provide VAT exemptions on certain health products.
He said BIR coordinates with the FDA and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) among others to monitor compliance among pharmaceutical companies and drugstores regarding this price changes.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were you surprised that a lot more medicines were declared VAT-exempt?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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