A House leader vowed to appeal on Thursday for the implementation of the proposed higher tax-exempt ceiling on workers’ 13th month pay and bonuses this year, a day after the Senate approved its version of the bill.
Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, said that he will push for the implementation of the tax ceiling this December in the upcoming bicameral conference of Congress on the bill.
“We will propose, too, that we make it effective 2014. In hindsight we’ve realized at the HOR [House of Representatives], where the bill was created and crafted originally, why should we delay the enjoyment of the benefit when we’ve come to determine that it’s very much needed already today,” Quimbo said.
On Wednesday the Senate voted 14-0 to pass on third and final reading the bill seeking to increase the tax-exemption cap for 13th-month pay and other benefits up to P82,000, while the House version proposes a lower ceiling amount of P70,000 from the current P30,000.
The original bill pegged the ceiling for tax-exempt bonuses at P75,000, but it was raised to P82,000 upon the proposal of Sen. Ralph Recto during plenary deliberations in the Senate.
“The Senate version specifically states it will be effective next year. We will appeal to them to make it effective this year. That’s what we propose to take up at bicam. This will be timely, as most Christmas bonuses will be given this coming month. We’d like the ordinary worker to already enjoy this much-needed benefit now rather than later,” he said.
House Majority Leader and LP Rep. Neptali “Boyet” Gonzales II of Mandaluyong City, in an interview, said the lower chamber will likely adopt the Senate version of the bill increasing to P82,000 the ceiling for tax exemption on bonuses.
He said the lower chamber has no problem with adopting the P82,000 ceiling as stated in the Senate version.
“We have no problem with the Senate version. But we have to study it carefully. No problem to set a Senate version, which sets a higher ceiling,” Gonzales said.
Under House Bill 4970, the authors seek to increase the tax-exemption cap for 13th-month pay and other bonuses to P70,000 from the present P30,000 by amending the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended.
The bill seeks to exclude 13th-month pay and other Christmas bonus from the computation of the gross income for the purposes of income taxation.
The measure also seeks to increase the amount of tax-exempt bonuses for all employees in both the private and public sectors.
It also mandates the finance department and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to increase the threshold every three years based on the consumer price index and inflation.
Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz