Your family, your home, your school and the society in an on-line Magazine...
Opinion on Tax Reform Bills
Philippine Taxation Law was
set almost three decades ago in 1987. Taxation being the primary source of the
government’s revenues, there are three legislators who looked closely on it especially personal taxes - sees a need for Reform. The latest among is Senator Angara’s which had been the
topic of discussions in the country today. The President and the BIR Commissioner
were not in favor of the TAX CUT Angara has suggested. Comparing the Bills
filed here is what I am seeing about it, being an ordinary citizen.
A Glimpse on Tax Reform Bills
SB 2149 2014
authored by Senator Juan Edgardo “ Sonny”
Angara
Angara supports the
need for Tax Cut, he also explained that the expected shortage on collections
for the Government’s Budge can be settled from other income sources. Angara
advocated that the Government can collect twice as much from the revenues
sourcing from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of
Internal Revenues
plus the premiums obtained from Public and Private Partnerships(PPP)
undertakings. And the two Bureaus
mentioned above can generate an income of around 1-1.5 T and IF the bill is approved, ONLY 30 B from it shall be cut from the
government’s income
His advocacy lies on
the empowerment of Human Capital thru reduced levy so that our own would not
think of migrating to neighboring countries where taxes are quite feasible to them
since we are on the verge of economic integration with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) community.
More likely that job opportunities abroad will attract our income tax payers to leave the country
burdened by the taxes billed on them.
Sin Taxes (taxes on cigarettes and beer) can
also be jacked-up (also to help
people preserve their health) . A good example is greater taxes for three to
four times car owners when buying their next luxury car – this has a domino effect on the economy affecting
traffic conditions if they will be allowed leniently. Those are some of the
options that will also provide advantage
to the economy and the citizens.
SB 1942 2013
authored by Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV
Sen. Aquino suggested
tax rate adjustment on a six-year interval according to Consumer Price Index
(CPI) and a tax exemption for earners of
60,000 below. Quite helpful for low-wage earnersJ
SB 716 filed 2013 filed
by Senator Ralph Recto
The threshold shall be
matched or adjusted with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) – that would
probably explain the need for HIGHER adjustment on set taxing brackets as he
said the prices of consumer commodities has almost doubled from 1998 to 2013.
He has also cleared that earners in the 20,000 below range shall only be
charged the lowest rate of 5%. The bill also suggests that rates be adjusted
every six years interval based on CPI.
Why Pro-Tax Reform?
The salary of a
fastfood service crew today can be somehow compared to the salary of the Store
Managers way back in 1987 when the Taxation Law has been put on practice. I
believe that his suggestion on adjustment basis is fairly acceptable for us and
to our economy. I salute the Sen Recto for not just favoring what could
possibly please the public alone but he is balancing his suggestions with
respect to the economic situation.