Senator Ejercito proposes 2-year tax freeze in ‘Yolanda’ hit areas

Senator-elect Joseph Victor Ejercito. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator JV Ejercito is proposing a two-year moratorium on all kinds of taxes in areas hardest hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan).

In Senate Resolution 370, Ejercito urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to impose a two-year freeze in Samar, Leyte, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Palawan and in other devastated areas to free calamity victims from temporarily complying with tax payment and to protect them from penalties due to their failure to comply with national tax laws.

The tax relief, he said, will accelerate the recovery of livelihood activities, business enterprises and will spur back employment and investment in severely affected areas.

“I urge the BIR to extend all necessary assistance to calamity victims, including employers and investors by granting and implementing in their areas a two-year tax freeze,” Ejercito, chairman of the Senate committee on economic affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I ask the bureau to help the victims rebuild and restore their businesses in order for them to continuously provide employment opportunities and boost the economic state of the damaged areas,” he added.

Three weeks after the typhoon ravaged the country, the amount of  property, infrastructure and agricultural damage incurred was reportedly pegged at least P22.66 billion.

Other areas severely hit by the typhoon include Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol region, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao and Caraga region.

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