House panel OKs bill granting income tax exemption to senior citizens

Taxpayers observe social distancing on the last day of filling of income tax returns at the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Intramuros, Manila on Monday, June 15, 2020. 📷: Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — A committee in the House of Representatives approved on Tuesday a bill seeking to exempt senior citizens from income taxes.

During its online meeting, the House Committee on Senior Citizens approved House Bill No. 8832 or the “Income Tax Exemption for Senior Citizens Act” which amends the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

Under the measure, senior citizens—or those aged 60 years old and above—who are still under continued employment shall be exempted from the payment of income tax.

The tax exemption also covers holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift differential pay, and hazard pay.

“Unfortunately, Filipino retirees were found to have limited savings for their retirement. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Filipinos have only 3.6 months’ worth of income for retirement,” Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, who authored the measure, said.

“Meanwhile, the average savings of a Filipino family is only P52,000 per year. Thus it is almost impossible for our senior citizens to comfortably retire today,” he added.

Since the proposed measure deals with taxes, it still needs to be approved by the House Committee on Ways and Means before it could be transmitted to the plenary for further debates.

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