Measure giving taxpayers a break is dead, says Angara

SEN. JUAN Edgardo Angara on Sunday conceded that the measure pushing for lower individual income and corporate tax rates was dead in the Senate after the House decided to drop its version.

“That’s their prerogative. We respect their decision. It’s a tough decision-making environment they are operating in,” Angara said in reaction to House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales III’s statement that the House of Representatives will not take the income tax reform bill in plenary with Congress having just one more week of sessions before going on a month-long break.

“If the House doesn’t pass it, the Senate can’t pass it. That’s the reality under the Constitution and the origination clause which states that all revenue measures must originate in the House,” Angara said.

He vowed to refile the bill in the next Congress under the next administration.

Gonzales had said the bill could not be taken up on the floor during the last week of sessions because it was still in the committee on ways and means, which has yet to endorse it.