VAT on toll imposed today; See how much you’ll be paying now

Yes, today is THE day.

No amount of public clamor, lobbying, praying and even Typhoon Pedring could stop it.

Starting today, October 1, 2011, motorists will have to pay the 12% VAT on what they usually pay for in the past years.

Thanks to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (and a lot of other people probably).

At the North Luzon Expressway, the toll for class 1 vehicles from Balintawak to Sta. Ines will go up to P218 from the current P195. The toll will go up to P544 from P486 for class 2 vehicles and to P652 from P583 for class 3 vehicles.

At the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, the toll from Tipo to Tarlac will go up to P272 (from P243) for class 1, to P543 (from P485) for class 2, and P815 (from P728) for class 3 vehicles.

At the South Luzon Expressway, the toll from Alabang to Calamba goes up to P96 (P86) for class 1, P192 (from P172) for class 2 and P288 (from P258) for class 3.

At the Metro Manila Skyway, rates from Merville to Alabang will go up to P164 for class 1 (from P147), to P329 (from P294) for class 2 and P493 (from P441) for class 3 vehicles.

Toll at the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star Toll) from Sto. Tomas to Batangas for class 1 vehicles will climb to P67 (from P60), to P134 (from P120) for class 2 and to P200 (from P179) for class 3 vehicles.

At the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway project, also known as Coastal Road, rates for the section from Roxas Boulevard to Longos, Las Pinas, will climb to P24 from P22 for class 1, to P48 from P43 for class 2 and to P72 from P65 for class 3 vehicles.

At the Coastal Road’s Longos-Kawit extension, rates will climb to P64 from P58 for class 1, to P129 from P116 for class 2 and to P194 from P174 for class 3 vehicles.

Computation showed that the 12 percent VAT would cause only a 1.6-centavo per kilometer increase in fares and a .04-centavo hike in the prices of basic commodities.

Malacanang said that prices on basic commodities will be controlled. Let’s see.

Oh well…