Poe seeks discount, VAT exemption on goods, services for poor youth

Senator Grace Poe. PHOTO FROM SEN. GRACE POE’S OFFICE

Senator Grace Poe has filed a measure that would grant ‘junior citizens”— children aged 0 to 12 years, belonging to poor families – a 20-percent discount and exemption from the value-added tax (VAT) on goods and services.

In Senate Bill No. 1295 known as the Junior Citizens Act of 2017, Poe proposes a 20-percent discount and exemption from VAT on medicines, vaccines and essential medical supplies, accessories and equipment to junior citizens, whose family’s annual income does not exceed P250,000.

“Ang mga benepisyong nakapaloob sa ating panukalang batas ay tiyak na makapagbibigay ng subsidiya sa mga pangangailangan ng mga pamilyang mahirap. Dapat maging katuwang ng mahihirap ang gobyerno sa pagpapabuti ng kanilang estado sa buhay,” the senator said in a statement on Friday.

(The benefits stipulated in my proposed legislation will surely provide subsidy for the needs of poor families. The government must be partners with the poor in improving their lives.)

Once enacted into law, junior citizens would be entitled to discounts and VAT exemptions on the following goods and services:

* Professional fees of attending physicians in all private hospitals, medical facilities, outpatient clinics, home health care services and service providers;

* Medical and dental services, diagnostics and laboratory fees in all private hospitals, medical facilities, outpatient and home health care services;

* Admission fees in theaters, cinemas and concert halls, leisure and amusement parks;

* And on funeral and burial services.

Also under the bill, medical and dental services, diagnostics and laboratory of junior citizens on state-run facilities would be free of charges as well as all necessary pediatric vaccinations that would be administered to them.

The measure would, likewise, make junior citizens automatic members of state health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Poe then pushed for the immediate passage of the bill, which she said would provide relief to poor Filipino families with children, in light of the rising prices of basic commodities and services.

“This proposed legislation would surely help every poor Filipino family’s financial constraints, raise their level of living and improve their quality of life,” she said. CDG/rga

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