Give them a break

The proposal to lower income tax rates despite the stiff resistance of the Department of Finance should be given serious consideration by our lawmakers.

As a matter of fact, we have a regressive tax system where the low wage earners actually pay more than the rich.

We believe the inflation-adjusted tax brackets suggested by such groups as the Tax Management Association of the Philippines will alleviate the plight of salaried individuals who are overtaxed under the current system.

The TMAP proposal will only involve amending the Tax Code to indicate the revised individual income tax table with a provision for its automatic indexing on a periodic basis, thus enabling Congress and the Senate to easily enact it at the soonest possible time.

The DoF opposes the proposal to lower income tax rates as they say it would result in at least P30 billion in foregone revenues. But tax experts and proponents of the bill lowering the income tax rates are saying that the reduction in revenues would be much less, and besides, the government can raise money elsewhere. We agree completely.

Image by www.tmap.org.ph