MANILA: Philippine Senator Cynthia Villar is hoping President Duterte will be more open to the idea for the benefit of millions of employees as proposals to bring down the income tax rate for wage earners had failed to get the support of the Aquino administration.
Villar has filed Senate Bill 147, which seeks to amend Section 24 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 or Tax Code, reported Philippine Star.
“To ease the burden of our Filipino workers, and for our country to be at par with regional standards and to make the Philippine workforce more competitive with its neighbors, this bill seeks to amend the Tax Code by adjusting the individual income tax brackets and reducing the rates of individual income tax,” Villar reportedly said.
For individuals who earn not more than PhP20,000 annually, Villar’s proposal is to impose an income tax rate of five percent, the report said.
Under the present system, individuals who earn no more than PhP10,000 a year are taxed five percent by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
For individuals who earn over PhP20,000, but not over PhP60,000, Villar is reportedly proposing a tax of PhP1,000 plus 10 percent of the excess over PhP20,000.
If the annual compensation is over PhP60,000, but not over PhP140,000, the proposed rate is PhP5,000 plus 15 percent of the excess over PhP60,000.
For those who earn over PhP140,000, but not over PhP280,000, the proposed rate would be PhP17,000 plus 20 percent of the excess over PhP140,000.
If an individual earns over PhP280,000, but not over P500,000, the proposed rate would be PhP45,000 plus 25 percent of the excess over PhP280,000.
Wages over PhP500,000, but not over PhP1 million would be taxed PhP100,000 plus 30 percent of the excess over PhP500,000.
Individuals who earn over PhP1 million annually would be taxed PhP250,000 plus 32 percent of the excess over PhP1 million, reported the news portal.
Villar said that an analysis of tax policies of the countries comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) shows that the Philippines has one of the highest average tax rate behind only Vietnam and Thailand.
