MAKABAYAN bloc lawmakers yesterday filed a bill seeking to lower the income tax rates on workers to bring relief to the poor and the middle class who are bear the burden from what they called the “imbalances” caused by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
Party-list Reps. France Castro (Alliance of Concerned Teachers), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan) said the still unnumbered Tax Reform Act for the Masses and the Middle Class, or TRAMM bill, will ease the harsh effects of the TRAIN and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) laws.
The militant lawmakers said these “regressive” tax reform laws need to be amended because they “offer little benefits to the poor and middle-class families.”
“Rising prices and untamed inflation rates in the past few years all the more justify the need for a tax reform package that would reduce the income tax rates of the overburdened Filipino working-class families. Reducing income tax rates for working families will not only improve their way of life but also strengthen their purchasing power which will boost overall domestic demand for consumer goods,” Castro said.
The TRAMM bill seeks to peg the maximum personal income tax rate for individuals to 20 percent annually with the first P400,000 income exempted from taxes.
The measure also seeks to bring back the additional exemptions for dependents and expand this to also include senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
It also seeks to raise the cap for tax-free bonuses to P150,000 and mandate the Bureau of Internal Revenue “to set up a progressive, 10-bracket personal income tax schedule.”
“Our country remains among the most unequal in the world with income shares of the poorest and richest segments of the population almost stagnant for decades and now, personal income tax rates for the poor and middle-class citizens in the Philippines are even higher than rates in other countries such as Singapore. Other countries also have additional personal allowances and/or tax exemptions for dependents, unlike here in the Philippines,” Castro said.
“With increasing prices of basic goods and services, the passage of this bill is urgently needed. We urge our fellow lawmakers to give high priority to this bill and swiftly enact it into law,” Castro added.
