Taxing texts

By Karen Galarpe PRETTY SOON, you might want to think twice about sending that text message. On a committee level, a bill in Congress has been approved that will impose a 5-centavo tax on every text message, picture, audio and video file sent. See story here. The bill is not a law yet, but with the government standing to raise P20- to P36-billion a year from such a tax, it may look like the bill will be made into law, unless consumers make themselves heard. Now the question is: Will this tax raise the cost of text messaging to cellphone users? Lawmakers are still debating on it, with some quarters believing that it should be passed on to consumers, since it is an indirect tax. Others say telco providers can well pay for the tax themselves. If consumers will pay for the tax, that may lessen the amount of text messages sent every day in this texting nation. That hopefully means less scam messages from people who want free cellphone load. But we Filipinos love to connect, don't we, and may not mind texting away at P1.05 per text message. Are you in favor of the government taxing your text messages? Please share your thoughts.