MANILA, Philippines — Marikina First District Rep. Marcelino "Marcy" Teodoro has filed a bill seeking to increase the annual income tax-exempt threshold from P250,000 to P500,000 and providing for the automatic adjustment of income tax brackets every three years based on inflation.
Filed last July 30, House Bill 10462, also known as the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Inflation Protection Act, aims to provide financial relief to salaried workers whose purchasing power has been affected by rising costs of food, fuel, transportation, electricity, education, and other basic necessities.
It also requires the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to review the revised tax structure, update withholding tax tables, conduct taxpayer information campaigns, and submit periodic reports to Congress.
"Many Filipino workers have seen their salaries increase over the years, but these increases have merely allowed them to keep pace with rising prices rather than improve their quality of life. It is only fair that our tax system likewise adapts to present-day economic realities," Teodoro said in his explanatory note on Monday.
HB 10462, a response to the recent call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ease the tax burdens of working citizens, sets the tax-exempt threshold at P500,000, higher than previous proposals to raise it to P350,000. It also mandates the automatic adjustment of income tax brackets every three years using the Consumer Price Index published by the Philippine Statistics Authority to preserve taxpayers' purchasing power without requiring Congress to amend the law regularly.
"When workers are allowed to keep more of what they honestly earn, they spend more, save more, invest more, and ultimately contribute even more to economic growth. Strengthening the middle class is one of the strongest investments we can make for the country's future," he said.
