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Friday, March 29, 2024

Lawmaker backs tax plan for poor

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AN INDEPENDENT bloc lawmaker on Friday rallied behind the Department of Finance’s (DoF) plan to give the poor a higher income-tax exemption.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said he would push for the measure’s immediate passage in Congress to eliminate tax burden, especially the poor. 

“I support the Finance department’s move to remove the income taxes of low-income earners and to reduce the income taxes of  middle-income earners. We have the same goal in mind: to eliminate the iniquitous tax burden among individual taxpayers especially the poor,” Tiangco said.

“My office is ready and willing to work with them to ensure the swift passage of the tax reform program. It’s high time our taxpayers enjoy their hard-earned money,” he added. 

At a congressional hearing of the House committee on ways and means early this week, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua noted that Tiangco’s House Bill 411 closely resembled the DoF proposal.

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HB 411 pushes for incometax exemption for those earning not more than P360,000 annually. 

It also seeks to give the low- and middle-income earners an adjusted, restructured and revised income-tax bracket that will approximate current consumer prices, which will, to a certain extent, increase their real purchasing power. 

Tiangco said the current system of taxation is severely outdated and is no longer fair and equitable. 

“It is a fact that Congress determined the tax brackets [now] provided under Section 24 of RA [Republic Act] 8284 as early as 1986. It has remained unchanged to date. On the other hand, the increase in infl ation has gone up as high as 300 percent,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note.

“With the current income tax brackets, the Philippines effectively imposes the highest personal income tax in the whole Asean region,” he added.

Tiangco also filed HB 947 in July, with the intent to exempt public school teachers, health workers, and police and military uniformed personnel from paying income tax.

Tiangco appealed to the House leadership to also prioritize the passage of his measure, along with other proposals deemed urgent by the lower house.

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