HEADLINES
FDA, BIR now working to reduce medicine prices for seniors
3/17/24, 4:50 AM
By MJ Blancaflor
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is collaborating with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to bring down the prices of medicines for senior citizens by exempting selected essential medicines from the Value Added Tax (VAT).
FDA Director General Samuel Zacate stated on Saturday that his agency has been submitting to the BIR a list of medicines that are eligible for VAT exemption.
"FDA ang magsasabi kung papaano iyong mekanismo [o] kung paano tatanggalin iyong gamot [sa VAT]. It’s a joint process po of the FDA and the BIR," he said in a press conference.
Expanding VAT exemption for select goods is in accordance with the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law or Republic Act No. 11534.
RA 11534 also provides VAT exemption to certain medicines for hypertension, cancer, mental illnesses, tuberculosis, kidney diseases, diabetes, and high cholesterol, as well as Covid-19-related treatment and other medical devices.
Under the CREATE Law, the FDA is mandated to identify and transmit its list of approved medicines for VAT exemption to other implementing agencies such as BIR.