Former BIR Commissioner Atty. Kim Henares said on Tuesday it would be difficult to impose a wealth tax on the richest 1 percent in the country due to challenges such as the bank secrecy law.

"Mahirap mag impose ng bagong taxes, kasi hindi magandang pakinggan. Pag mag impose ka ng bagong taxes, marami kang malalaking tao na kalaban, so mahirap. Whether it’s time or not, anything that imposes new taxes is going to be an uphill climb," she said.

(It's difficult to impose new taxes, it doesn't sound good. When you impose a new tax, you're facing powerful people, so it's difficult)

"Taxation is progressive, the more you have, you should pay higher taxes. My only concern is: how do you impose it?" she added.

While imposing wealth tax is far from being implemented, Henares said the government must improve revenue generation. It should also be more efficient when it comes to its expenditures.

An Oxford International report earlier said the 9 richest billionaires in the Philippines are wealthier than the 55 million or half of the entire population.

• 9 Filipino billionaires wealthier than 55 million Pinoys: Oxfam report

Oxfam urged governments globally to look into wealth tax in order to address the expanding inequality.

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