A P2 trillion financing gap in the government’s 2026 budget is driving the Department of Finance to push a slate of new and revised tax measures, with the global minimum tax on multinational corporations identified as the most significant potential source of additional revenue.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go disclosed before the House Committee on Ways and Means that the DOF has reviewed eight tax proposals, citing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s global minimum tax framework as the priority measure. Under that framework, multinational enterprises with global revenues exceeding €750 million are required to pay a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent.
“Based on our computation, this is perhaps the single largest source of additional revenue for our coffers,” Go said, as reported by The STAR.
The DOF has described the measure as a domestic top-up tax designed to align the Philippines with the OECD initiative, and Go was careful to note its limited reach. “There is this initiative of the OECD to impose a global minimum tax on foreign corporations doing business all over the world,” he said, adding that the measure does not affect foreign direct investors and remains “tax neutral” to companies already operating in the country.
Beyond the global minimum tax, Go said the agency is also looking at additional excise taxes on industries already subject to existing excise levies. He declined to enumerate all eight measures but said the full list would be transmitted to the House of Representatives within 30 days.
The disclosures contrast with earlier statements from Executive Secretary Ralph Recto — who previously served as finance secretary — that no new taxes would be introduced before the end of the Marcos administration.
Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, who chairs the House committee on ways and means, confirmed that some proposals have already been received. “The (DOF) already submitted the global tax, single-use plastic. Those are tax measures that don’t affect the poor,” Quimbo told The STAR, adding that the committee would wait for the DOF’s final consolidated list before proceeding.
The revenue push is framed against a structural budget shortfall. The government’s P6.8 trillion spending plan for 2026 is projected to outstrip tax revenues of P4.4 trillion and non-tax collections of P400 billion, leaving the Bureau of the Treasury to cover the remaining P2 trillion deficit through borrowing.
“Every time you remove something, we have to find replacement of revenues,” Go said.
The tax discussion also arose in response to a separate proposal by Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice, who suggested generating funds through an amnesty and regularization program for undocumented Chinese immigrants willing to pay substantial fees. Go sidestepped a direct position on the idea, saying the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration.
Separately, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed the budget deficit narrowed sharply by 94.4 percent to P5.8 billion in the latest comparable period, down from P103.1 billion recorded in the same period in 2025, as revenue collections accelerated.
