Lawmaker seeks higher income tax exemption for parents

DAVAO CITY , Philippines   â€“ Compostela Valley 1st district Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora is pushing for an increase in the income tax exemption for each qualified dependent from P25,000 to P50,000.

Zamora said this would help ease the financial burden of the K+12 extended schooling curriculum on parents.

She said while individual income taxpayers are extended an additional exemption of P25,000 for each dependent not exceeding four, the advent of the K+12 curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd) will negate the relief provided by the tax break as the additional two years of basic education will certainly entail more expenses for parents, who are also taxpayers.

“As such, there is a need for the government to help ease the financial burden of the extended new schooling curriculum by providing our parent-taxpayers with increased additional exemptions for their qualified dependents,” said Zamora.

The tax relief, if favorably considered, will generally redound to the benefit of the dependents’ education and answer for their other basic needs, while providing additional financial support to parents, particularly those who are single and have sole custody of the dependent child or children, according to Zamora.

The lawmaker’s proposal embodied in House Bill 241 seeks to amend Chapter Vll, Section 35 (B) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) so that an additional exemption of P50,000 will be allowed for each taxpayer’s dependent not exceeding four.

At present, Section 35 (B) of Republic Act 9504, which amended the NIRC, provides for an additional exemption of P25,000 for each taxpayer’s dependent not exceeding four. The additional exemption for dependents shall be claimed by only one of the spouses in the case of married individuals.

The law provides that in the case of legally separated spouses, only the spouse who has custody of the child or children may claim additional exemptions.