I ' d just like to put this here since everyone is complaining that this will just lower income tax a bit and then raise VAT accross the board . We recognize that the tax reform will affect a number of vulnerable people . We are very much committed to protecting the poor , vulnerable , and low income sectors . The poorer the household is , the more social protection subsidies it will get especially , during the first year of the Tax Reform Package One implementation , Chua said at the Ortigas forum . These targeted transfers , Chua said , include timebound unconditional cash transfers for the bottom 50 percent of the population pantawid pasada programs for public utility vehicles to cushion the impact of fuel excises on commuters higher socialized pensions or higher conditional cash transfer amounts , plus rice subsidies for indigent senior citizens and higher Philippine health insurance PhilHealth coverage and other benefits to help them defray the ever spiralling costs of healthcare for persons with disabilities . To benefit most ordinary consumers , the DOF plans to increase the VAT threshold for goods and services from P 1 . 9 million to P 3 million for micro and small enterprises , effectively exempting them from the VAT . This means that sarisari stores and small groceries , where most Filipinos buy their every day essentials , will be exempted from the VAT and will only pay the percentage tax , he said . Chua made it clear that in expanding the VAT base , exemptions would be retained for raw food , education , health care and other key essentials , but would lifted for other items such as travel , restaurants and amusement so that the tax savings from this effort would be used to fund the targeted transfer programs for the poor . He also stressed that senior citizens would continue enjoying their 20 percent discount , regardless of their income status . Source r e f o r m a ndinclusionacttogeneratep 1742 bin 1 styearsaysdofexecThe supportsdoftaxreformplan , the World B a n k b a n k backsdofstaxreformprogram , and the Foundation for Economic F r e edombacksdoftaxreformplan all agree that Package one of the comprehensive tax reform program is good for 99 % of Filipinos .