Roxas to BIR: Don't be a scrooge, give full-year tax relief

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today called on the Department of Finance not to be a Scrooge and heed minimum wage workers’ pleas for a full-year income tax exemption, pursuant to Republic Act No. 9504.

“Dapat lang na ibigay na itong tax exemption. Kahit kakarampot ay maaaring magdagdag ng kaunti para sa darating na Pasko para sa kanila (This tax exemption must be given now. Even if it’s a small amount, it would help in the expenses this coming Christmas),” he said.

The Cebu city council issued a resolution last month urging the DoF and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to retroactively implement the tax exemption for minimum wage earners, a copy of which was furnished to Roxas, who was commended for pushing the tax relief measure..

“In these hard times, we ought to do everything we can to be able to make life better and easier for our people,” Roxas said in a reply addressed to Hilario Davide III, Acting Presiding Officer of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of the City of Cebu.

“Kapag ‘di naibigay ang full-year tax exemption, P5,000 din ang kinuha ng gobyerno sa mga minimum wage earners. Maliit pero kinuha pa rin ng gobyerno (If the tax exemption will not be given, the government’s taking P5,000 away from the minimum wage earners. A small amount, but the government still took it),” he said.

Roxas has already filed with the Supreme Court a petition to compel the DoF and BIR to exempt minimum wage earners from taxes for income earned since January 1 of this year, and not only since July 6, which is when the law was made effective. He noted that the Supreme Court had previously ruled in Umali vs. Estanislao that an older tax exemption law, RA 7167, covered income taxes from the start of 1991, even though this became effective only on January 30, 1992.

Saturday, November 22, 2008 | posted in bir, dof, hilario davide iii, income tax break, mar roxas, minimum wage, philippines, supreme court | 0 comments [ More ]

Roxas, TUCP ask SC to junk "half-baked" tax exemption

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the Philippines’ biggest union federation, announced today they will contest before the Supreme Court the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s “half-baked” income tax exemption for minimum wage earners, contrary to Congress’ intentions under Republic Act No. 9504, enacted last June 17.

“Binaligtad ng BIR at ng DoF ang intensyon ng mga mambabatas na bigyang ginhawa ang mga manggagawa sa pamamagitan ng income tax exemption. Una, sisimulan lang nila ang exemption sa July 6, imbes na sa simula ng taon. Pangalawa, ang mga minimum wage earner na may ibang sources of income ay hindi na ie-exempt. Bilang principal author nitong batas, ay lalabanan ko ang maling interpretasyon ng ehekutibo dito,” Roxas said.

He noted that minimum wage earners would stand to lose about P5,000 in exemptions from January to June, as a result of the erroneous implementing rules and regulations of RA 9504. This is P36 per day, or P792 a month, lost per worker. With about 500,000 minimum wage earners, a full-year exemption would mean a total of P2.5 billion given back to the people to help them cope with the high cost of living.

“Napakalaking savings ang nawawala sa taumbayan gawa nitong half-baked tax exemption na gusto ng BIR at DoF. Katumbas ito ng isang kilong bigas, o tatlong lata ng sardinas bawat araw na mabibili sana ng isang manggagawa para sa kanyang pamilya. Maling-mali, switik at madaya ang pamamaraan ng BIR at DoF para makakolekta ng dagdag na buwis sa mga taong bayan,” he said.

Last week, Roxas wrote Finance Secretary Margarito Teves calling for the reconsideration of Revenue Regulations No. 10-2008, particularly the provisions providing for only a half-year exemption for minimum wage earners, and the limited scope of minimum wage earners eligible for the tax relief.

“Hinihintay pa namin ang sagot ng DoF sa aking liham, pero maghahain na tayo ng petisyon sa Korte Suprema para masimula na ang proseso ng pagbasura ng half-baked income tax exemption na gusto ng BIR,” he said.

Thursday, October 2, 2008 | posted in bir, dof, mar roxas, margarito teves, minimum wage, philippines, president, supreme court, tucp | 1 comments [ More ]