MANILA, Philippines — The bill that seeks to provide tax exemptions to rewards, incentives, and bonuses to competing or winning national athletes and their coaches has been approved by the House of Representatives on final reading.
During Tuesday’s session, the lower chamber approved House Bill No. 9990—also known as the Hidilyn Diaz Act—with 205 affirmative votes, zero negatives, and no abstention.
Under the measure, rewards, bonuses, and other forms of emoluments for national athletes and coaches who compete or win international sports competitions shall be exempted from all taxes, fees, and charges.
The bill was filed in light of the historic gold medal win of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This was the first gold medal for the Philippines in the history of the Olympics.
The lawmakers’ primary authors, including co-authors, said this is meant to support national athletes who compete and win on the international stage.
The legal issue on whether or not rewards given to athletes should be taxed started when private companies provided some incentives or even tried to match the grants given to Diaz by the national government.
Aside from monetary prizes, some companies offered freebies ranging from free flights, free cars, a free lifetime supply of products, and other sorts of incentives.
However, there was a dilemma as it was unclear whether a part of the grants made by private companies to Diaz was actually taxable. The current law provides tax exemption only to rewards from the state.
READ: ‘Hidilyn Diaz Act’ seeks tax-free cash donations, rewards for athletes