With a reduction of the corporate income tax rate and income tax exemptions for minimum wage workers in Manila, The Bureau of Internal Revenue has been thinking outside the square and are targeting motels to provide additional income streams.
Motels in Manila not only pay income tax but are also charged a value-added tax based on 1.5% of their daily occupancy rate.
It seems that The Bureau of Internal Revenue are not satisfied that the motels are paying their due. They claim that many motel guest rooms have high daily turnover rates due to "trysting lovers" that only stay for a few hours and are not being accounted for in daily occupancy rates.
In order to patch up this anomaly, it is proposed that the value-added tax could be raised to 2-3% in time for Valentines Day.
If this is not accepted, other taxation schemes may be considered in Manila that could include counting the number of towels and bedsheets used in motels on a daily basis!
