House panel OKs 25% income tax cut for COVID-19 medical frontliners

By: Cathrine Gonzales - 4 years ago

MANILA, Philippines — A panel of the House of Representatives approved Monday a consolidated measure that seeks to grant a 25-percent discount on the income taxes of COVID-19 medical frontliners.

The House committee on ways and means in a meeting okayed House Bill No. 7351, which also effectively approved House Bills No. 984, 2901, 3751, 7523, and 7978 that urges a similar tax cut.

“This is unanimously approved. This is our own small way of compensating [our medical frontliners],” committee chair Rep. Joey Salceda said.

House Bill No. 7351, which was used as the base bill for other similar proposed measure, originally called for the exemption from taxation for 2020 all medical and non-medical frontliners who are “directly serving, treating, caring, aiding, and assisting COVID-19 patients.”

However, the Department of Finance noted that this could result in revenue loss worth P9 billion.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, a senior vice-chairperson of the panel, also said DOF has submitted a position paper citing the huge revenue impact of the measure.

“We are proposing a 25-percent tax discount in the consolidated bill. We think it is more feasible,” she said.

House Bill No. 7351 proposes that the exemption shall only cover the salary or compensation, as well as gross receipts from the exercise of profession or employment received by a frontliner for the taxable year 2020.

The tax exemption, however, shall not include the income received by frontliners from their other businesses, investments, and other kinds of passive income not related to treating COVID-19 patients.

Under the proposed measure, the DOF Secretary will also be given authority to extend for a period of not more than six months the exemption from payment of income tax to qualified frontliners, based on the decision of the President upon the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

KGA