Bill exempts from probes those who pay 20% more tax

House Deputy Speaker Eric Singson and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez have filed a bill seeking to exempt individual and corporate taxpayers from tax audit and investigations in exchange for paying the equivalent of 20 percent of the previous year’s tax payments.

House Bill No. 7223 would allow taxpayers to pay “at least 20 percent more of the income, VAT (value-added tax), excise and percentage taxes paid … during the previous taxable year.”

This would exempt the taxpayer from having the Bureau of Internal Revenue look into their books.

To continue availing of the exemption, the taxpayer must not fail to pay the additional 20 percent of the amount paid during the previous taxable year.

The audit exemption was meant as an “incentive to voluntarily declare and pay a higher tax,” read the explanatory note of the bill. —Vince F. Nonato