The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday, January 28, approved the bill which seeks to include dependents of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) among those exempted to pay travel taxes.
The substitute bill to House Bill No. 6138 aims to completely exempt OFW dependents from paying the tax.
Currently, OFW dependents are only asked to pay Php300 for economy passage and P400 for first class while other passengers are required to pay travel tax of Php1,620 for those boarding economy and business class flights and Php2,700 for first class flights.
OFWs, meanwhile, are exempted from paying travel taxes, documentary stamp tax, and airport fees as per the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.
The Department of Finance (DoF) and the National Tax Research Center (NTRC), however, did not support the measure stating that the reduced travel tax for OFW dependents is already enough.
“We have recognized the importance or the role of the OFW in our economy. There have been a lot of laws that give them privileges,” Finance Director Juvy C. Danofrata said.
“Granting it or expanding it further… is not supported by the DoF, primarily because there’s already a law that gives the privilege of reduced travel tax to OFW dependents,” Donofrata added.
NTRC, meanwhile, said that complete exemption of OFW dependents from paying travel tax will be “too generous” for the government.
“Additional outright exemption of dependents from travel tax might be deemed too generous for the government to grant because there are already a number of laws granting OFWs certain privileges. We suggest to maintain the status quo,” NTRC Officer-in-Charge Deputy Executive Director Donaldo M. Boo said.
