Benjamin Franklin said: "He who goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing." With the issuance of Revenue Memorandum Circular 62-2016 dated June 13, 2016, it would seem the general borrowing public will have to go into more sorrowing.

GRT, or gross receipt tax, is a percentage tax imposed on gross receipts derived from sources within the Philippines by banks and nonbank  financial intermediaries, among others.

In the case of banks, GRT at the rate ofone percent is levied on interest, commissions and discounts from lending activities, and income from financial instruments, as well as royalties, rentals of properties, profits from exchange, and all other items treated by the bank as gross income are subject to seven percent GRT.

Additional cost of borrowing?