MANILA - Income taxes may go down this year if Congress swiftly passes the administration's tax reform bill, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said if the tax reform bill hurdles the Senate at the onset of its second regular session, taxpayers may see a reduction in their withholding taxes in the third or fourth quarter of the year.

"With the President's certification of the TRAIN [Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion] bill as an urgent and a priority measure, complemented by the personal appeal he made before our lawmakers in his SONA [State of the Nation Address], we are hopeful that the Senate will pass the measure soon enough," Dominguez said in a statement.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte renewed his call for the Congress to approve the tax reform measure in full during his State of the Nation Address on Monday.

Senators, however, said they cannot commit to passing the tax reform bill in its entirety as the President requested, as they still need to study it further.

Some business analysts, meanwhile, expect the bill to get watered down at the Senate.