House panel approves tax exemption for senior citizens

MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on senior citizens on Tuesday approved a bill that would exempt senior citizens from paying income taxes.

Under House Bill No. 8832, or the “Income Tax Exemption for Senior Citizens Act,” senior citizens, or those aged 60 years old and above, who are still under continued employment shall be exempted from paying income taxes.

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

Senior Citizens party list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, author of the bill, said the proposed measure aimed to increase the savings of senior citizens before their retirement.

“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,” Ordanes 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.

The bill will now have to be approved by the House ways and means committee before it is submitted to the plenary for further deliberations.