Private schools group asks Senate: Pass tax rate law

Senate of the Philippines. (File photo by EDWIN BACASMAS / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA) called on the Senate to pass the measure seeking to alleviate the tax woes of private schools in the country.

COCOPEA chair Dr. Anthony Jose M. Tamayo asked the upper chamber to pass Senate Bill No. 2272 filed by Senator Sonny Angara. The counterpart bill of the measure is under plenary debates in the House of Representatives.

“Our plea to the Senate is to pass their version of this important measure,” Tamayo said in a statement.

“Once signed into law, we can then focus on fulfilling the mission we share with the public sector in educating our citizenry for nation-building especially during this pandemic,” he added.

The measure seeks to amend the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) to define the tax rates of proprietary schools to allow them to avail of the preferential tax rate of 10 percent, which is reduced to 1 percent until June 2023 under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE).

The measure was meant to intervene in the implementation of the recent regulation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) increasing the tax rate of proprietary private educational institutions to 25 percent from 10 percent.

The BIR has already suspended the order hiking the said tax rate on private schools following backlash from several lawmakers, who said the increase violates the spirit of CREATE.

Tamayo said that if the 25 percent rate were to be implemented, “it would’ve led to the closure of many schools.”

“Students would’ve been deprived of quality education. Teachers and school staff might have to join the ranks of the unemployed, which have been swelling since the pandemic began,” he also pointed out.

“We urge our many private education stakeholders to join us in our collective appeal to our lawmakers to extend a lifeline to our struggling schools during this pandemic, to ensure the continuity of learning of our students, to secure the jobs of our teachers and personnel, and to continue providing livelihoods for the many small businesses who are dependent on our schools,” Tamayo added.