The Bureau of Internal Revenue has expanded the list of medicines exempted from value-added tax (VAT), to include medications for cancer, hypertension and mental illness.

In its latest revenue memorandum circular, the BIR approved the updated list under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, which was endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration.

The circular covered the inclusion of 15 drugs, seven of which are for the treatment of cancer, five are for hypertension, two for mental illnesses and one for high cholesterol.

The medicines are in the forms of capsules, lyophilized powder for intravenous infusion, tablets, concentrate, powder concentrate, solution for injection, oral solution and syrup.

'The BIR is now a service-oriented agency, this includes the regular update of medicines that will fall under VAT-exempt products,' BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui said.

It was in March when the BIR last included 20 VAT-exempt medicines for cancer, hypertension and mental illness.

In January 2019, the government started implementing the VAT exemption for prescription drugs used to treat cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

The VAT exemptions apply to the sale by manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers of the medicines and aims to make certain medicines more affordable to consumers.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the top three causes of death in the country last year were heart disease, cancer and cerebrovascular disease, accounting for a combined 40 percent of mortality.

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