Tax on ammunition

Title

Tax on ammunition

Language

English

Year

1939

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

2 T'HE MARKSMAN July_: fl)39 TAX ON AMMUNITION Early this year, the Dep.a.rtment of Finance presented to the National Assembly for consideration an omnibus tax bill which, among other piuvisions, imposed a specific tax of one centavo (P0.01) per cartridge. Alarmed by the seeming extent of this provision in its efforts to popularize marksmanship among civilians, the Board of Directors of the National Rifle & Pistol Association immediately appointed Messrs. Feli~ Cortes and Carlos Quirino as a committee to inquire into the exact terms of the proposed tax. The Committee immediately called on Major-General Basilio J. Valdes, chief of staff of the Philippine Army, who expressed surprise over the proposed item in the tax bill and in no uncertain terms said that a one-centavo tax on all cartridges wouid cripple target-shooting among the civHian population. He was vehemently &Jrainst the imposition of a tax on cartridges to be used for tarJret shooting, and favored a more moderate tax on other kinds of cartridges. "You can quote me on this," declared the Army's chief of staff, an enthusiastic supporter of the movement to encourage marksmanship among our civiHan population. Brigadier General Guillermo B. Francisco, chief of the Philippine C(\nstabulary, w2s likPwi~P against a.ny hindrance to target shooting by the imposition of prohibitive taxes. Their objection was simple. If a .22 caliber long rifle bullet costs one centavo, the tax of an extra centavo would mean a 100% tax on the cartridge used most in target shooting! Such a tax would have been disastrous to devotees of target shooting- throughout the Islands! The cost of practice for the various national and international competition would be doubled, and because the expenses are all borne by the private individual, the result would be that practice would have to be cut in half. And in target shooting, like all other sports, practice makes perfect. The outlook, indeed, appeared gloomy-at least for a few days, until a visit to the Department of Finance revealed that the omnibus tax bill l]nder consideration bv the Committee on Wavs and Means of the National Assembly exempted .22 caliber cartridges from the tax! However, the Committee. - later backed by the NRPA Board of July, 1939 T"HE MARKSMAN 3 Directors-deemed the one-centavo tax onerous for this reason: a center-fire revolver cartridge costing 5 centavos would have to pay a tax of 25 % , a figure they considered too high; whereas, a high power rifl~ cartridge costing 15 centavos would pay only between 6 to 7%, a figure nearer to reason and the pocketbook of target shooters. For this reason, the Board. through its president, Mr. Dalmacio Pekson, wrote a lett~r to Committee of Ways and Means asking for a percentage tax of 5% rather than a one-centavo tax. Mr. Francisco Lavides, chairman of the -Committee on Ways and Means, accepted the suggestion and inserted the change in the proposed bill. Previous to this, tax officials found no objection to the NRPA's proposals of changing the one-centavo tax to 5% tax on cartridges other than caliber .22. Unfortunately, the letter of the NRP A did not state the reason for the amendment, and the Committee, in reporting the bill to the Assembly, left the old provision intact. Fortunately for gun-lovers throughout the Islands, they found staunch friends in Assemblymen Dizon, Moldero, Zulueta, Afable, Ca.macho, Vera, Gumafigan and many others, who, in a last minute effort on the floor of the Assembly, succeeded in getting the amendment a.nnroved without any further opposition. Credit for this is due to the initiative and able presentation of our side bv the Vice-President of the Assosiation who, in mutual consultation with the members of the Assembly, succeeded in convincing them of the necessity for such amendment. The omnibus tax bill was approved by the Assembly, subsequentlv by the President of the Philippines, and went into effect July 1, 1939. Insofar as shooters are concerned, the new law makes only two changes. The initial and annual fees contained in Commonwealth Act_ No. 195 are maintained under the new tax law, (Section 290) except that control is transferred from the Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army to the Chief of the Constabulary. This was natural, in view of ( CC>Btinued on pa.g~ 6) + JOIN THE RED CROSS + July, l 939 THE MARKSMAN 5 (Continned fr<>'m page 3) the separation of the Constabulary from the Army. Under the previous arrangement that came into existence with the birth of the Commonwealth Government, the Provost Marshall, who was in charge of the Constabulary, was also in charge of the licensing of firearms. Section 185 of the new law deals on the tax on cartridges as follows: Sec. 185. Percentage tax on sales of automobiles, sporting goods, refrigerators, musical instruments, and others-There is levied, assessed, and collected once only on every original· sale, barter, exchange, or similar transaction intended to transfer ownership of, or title to, the articles hereinbelow enumerated, a tax equivalent to five per centum of the gross seHing price. . . : (g) Cartridges or other forms of ammunition, (except those for caliber .22 firearms): Provided, however, That no tax shall be collected on cartridges or other forms of ammunition sold and delivered directly to the Philippine Constabulary or Philippine Army for their actual use or issue. . .. This is the history of the new tax on ammunition and cartridges. The National Rifle and Pistol Association takes great pride in having. cooperated with national officials in the drafting of a smaU portion of the omnibus tax bm, and in having protected the interests . of its members and ,the shooting fraternity in general-all to the .larger interests of .encoaraging--rnarksmanship in the-Philippines and help~ng the .development of our plans for National Defense. INVESTORS AND HOME-LOVERS, Act now while our prices are low. See the beautiful homesites of the following subdivisions of the l\'1AGDALENA ESTATE INC. "NEW MANILA" "SAN JUAN SUBDIVISION" "ESP A~A SUBDIVISION" "CAMP MURPHY" These lots are sold without down payment and the buyer is allowed possession after first m-0nthly instaHment is paiid. - CASH, Big Discount. 348 Echague-Tet 2-23-40 and 2-21-54 Sundays: 20 Broadway - Tel. 6-87-25

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