Senatorial candidate Jejomar Binay is supporting a call to remove the tax on the honorarium of teachers and other poll personnel assigned for the May 9 elections.
“This is in recognition of the hard work and sacrifice of our teachers and poll workers during elections,” said Binay in a statement Monday.
Aside from ensuring that the elections remain honest and credible, the former vice president said teachers and other poll workers also have to endure the weather conditions and the threat of COVID-19.
“Especially this summer and with the pandemic, our election personnel will be serving even longer and there is also a threat to their health,” he added.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has started imposing a five percent tax on teachers’ compensation for their election duties in 2018.
But the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said that for the May elections, a 20 percent tax will be imposed on teachers’ travel allowance.
Members of the electoral board for this year’s elections will receive from P6,000 to P7,000. Other poll workers including DepEd Supervisor Officials (DESO), medical personnel, and technical support staff, meanwhile, will be given from P3,000 to P5,000.
Electoral board members, DESOs and their support staff are also entitled to a P2,000 travel allowance, while medical personnel and other support staff will be given P1,000 for transportation.
All are also entitled to a P500 anti-COVID-19 allowance.
Binay said that removing the tax would make it easier for poll workers to collect their pay.
“If they want to be exempted from paying tax, they still need to file a declaration that their annual gross income is less than P250,000 to be exempted from paying tax,” he said.