MANILA, Aug. 23 (PNA) — A neophyte lawmaker is seeking to increase the personal exemption for individual taxpayers to Php100,000 from the present Php50,000 so that the government can reduce the burden of the people and alleviate their economic condition.
Rep. Evelio R. Leonardia (Lone District, Bacolod City) made the proposal through House Bill 4705, which seeks to amend Section 35 (A) of Republic Act 8424, as amended by RA 9504, otherwise known as the “National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.”
Leonardia said while taxes are the lifeblood of the government and should be collected without necessary hindrance, the government should in turn help improve the lives of the people paying these taxes.
“Without taxes, the government would be paralyzed for lack of motive power to activate and operate it. The government for its part is expected to respond in the form of tangible and intangible benefits intended to improve the lives of the people and enhance their moral and material values,” said Leonardia.
He said according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the poverty incidence in the country was 28.8 percent in 2006, 28.6 percent in 2009 and 27.9 percent in the first semester of 2012.
“Looking closely at this data, the poverty incidence from 2006 to 2012 has barely improved. The government should enact a law to reduce the burden of the people and alleviate their economic condition,” said Leonardia, a vice chairman of the House Committee on Transportation.
House Bill 4705, now pending at the Committee on Ways and Means chaired by Rep. Miro Quimbo (2nd District, Marikina City), seeks the amendment of Section 35 (A) of RA 8424, as amended by RA 9504, which pertains to the “Allowance of Personal Exemption for Individual Taxpayer.”
It provides that for purposes of determining the tax provided in Section 24(A) of the NIRC, as amended, which pertains to “Rates of Income Tax on Individual Citizen and Individual Resident Alien of the Philippines,” there shall be allowed a basic personal exemption amounting to Php100,000 for each individual taxpayer. In case of married individuals where only one of the spouses is deriving gross income, only such spouse shall be allowed the personal exemption.
At present, the law provides for a Php50,000 basic personal exemption for each individual taxpayer.(PNA)