Tax amnesty bill awaits Duterte signature

Amnesty for delinquent taxpayers may soon be at hand after the Senate ratified on Thursday the bicameral conference committee report on the bill providing for the reprieve.

The measure is set to be submitted to President Duterte for his signature.

The House of Representatives ratified the measure on Wednesday.

The tax amnesty bill would provide for a one-time opportunity to settle tax obligations, including estate taxes, general taxes and delinquent accounts, for those who failed to pay these for the year 2017 and earlier.

Those who avail themselves of the amnesty program would be immune from the payment of all taxes and the filing of civil, criminal and administrative cases and penalties.

Win-win program

Sen. Sonny Angara, the measure’s main sponsor in the Senate, described it as a “win-win” for both the taxpayers and the administration.

The government is expected to generate some P41 billion from the program, with the amount going to infrastructure projects and to the augmentation of appropriations to help those affected by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, said Angara, who chairs the Senate’s ways and means committee.

“This is but another step in the long quest toward an efficient and equitable tax system,” he said in a statement.

The bill provides for a general tax amnesty where taxpayers could choose to pay at a rate of 2 percent of total assets or 5 percent of net worth or a minimum tax.

This would encourage taxpayers to avail themselves of the amnesty program.

The bill would also allow them to avail themselves of a reprieve from estate taxes and just pay 6 percent based on the dead person’s total net estate.

Angara said this would benefit families who have been unable to use their properties because of their inability to pay the estate tax due to huge penalties and surcharges.

Amnesty on delinquencies

The measure also provides for an amnesty on delinquencies, where taxpayers could avail themselves of 40 percent of the basic tax for delinquencies and assessments that have become final and executory.

It would be 50 percent for cases that are the subject of final and executory judgment by the courts, and 60 percent for those that are the subject of pending criminal cases.

According to Angara, the government could get more from the amnesty program than from pursuing tax evasion cases, which could take decades to resolve and which would entail expenses for the investigation, prosecution and hearings, the total amount of which may even be higher than the taxes sought to be paid.

The bill also secures the privacy of tax documents.

The unlawful divulgence of the tax amnesty return and supporting documents would merit a P150,000 fine and a maximum jail term of 10 years for those from the private sector.

If the violator is a public servant, the penalties are a P1-million fine, a maximum jail term of five years, and perpetual disqualification from public office.