Gordon: Book tax a hindrance to flow of knowledge

Senator Richard J. Gordon ( Ind. ) today said that the continued imposition of taxes on imported books would hinder the acquisition of knowledge from such educational tools and might further discourage people from reading books.

Gordon stressed that imposing taxes on imported books hinders the flow of knowledge and ideas by making these educational materials less accessible to the people.

"Our Constitution states that education should be a priority of the government. But learning does not only happen inside the four corners of the classroom. Reading , as a form of entertainment, is also a way of educating our people," he said.

Gordon's statement is in response to the Department of Finance (DOF) and Bureau of Customs' (BOC) decision to impose taxes on imported books to help the government reach its revenue targets.

The DOF said it has no plans of withdrawing the duty imposed on all foreign reading materials and even challenged local book importers to file cases against the government.

Gordon explained that book reading not only contributes to a person's knowledge but also serves as a form of entertainment. However, imposing undue taxes on imported books would cause price increase on these materials.

"If prices of books swell, we only discourage our people from reading. Instead of encouraging them to make book reading a hobby, it would make them think twice and instead, opt for other recreational activities," Gordon said.

"If we allow this policy of the BOC to continue, book importers would reconsider future importations due to higher importation costs. Sooner or later, foreign books will become more and more expensive or even completely unavailable in local bookstores," he added.

Gordon said the government should not limit educational opportunities available to the people and therefore, books and other informational and learning materials should be affordable, available and accessible to as many people as possible.