MAMAYANG Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima has filed House Bill 9172, aiming to increase the income tax exemption ceiling for individual taxpayers from P250,000 to P480,000 yearly income.
”The pay received by many of our countrymen is very insufficient, and often nothing is left of it just several days after payday,” de Lima said in Filipino in a statement on Friday.
”What more when [a] crisis comes, or someone in the family gets sick? One way to lessen the economic challenges confronting many of our countrymen is to implement reforms in income tax exemption that will increase their take-home pay or disposable income,” she added.
De Lima acknowledged that taxes are a source of funding for critical public services such as education, health care and public safety, but noted that taxpayers are already squeezed dry, hence, the government must ease their burden.
”The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law introduced a significant change to the Philippine income tax system by exempting individuals earning up to P250,000.00 annually from personal income tax. This reform was designed to ease the tax burden on low- and lower-middle-income earners, allowing them to retain a larger portion of their income. However, once annual earnings exceed this threshold, a progressive task structure applies, with rates starting at 15 percent and rising to 35 percent for top earners. As a result, even modest increases in income can lead to disproportionately higher tax liabilities,” she said in the bill’s explanatory note.
The measure was filed on May 11 and was fully adopted. It was succeedingly filed as Senate Bill 267 by Sen. Bam Aquino.
