MANILA, Philippines — Good news for millions of Filipinos saving their money in the bank.
The House of Representatives has reduced the 20 percent final tax on interest income to 15 percent.
The reduction forms part of the proposed Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Reform Act or PIFITA, which the House has approved on second reading.
The proposed law also removes the requirement to pay a certain amount of documentary stamps for those obtaining documents like diplomas, transcripts of records, certificates, and marriage licenses.
Millions more will benefit from the scrapping of the documentary stamp tax (DST) on these documents, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the bill’s principal author, said yesterday.
He said no DST would also be required for domestic mo-ney transfers.
“This will reduce the cost of sending money to relatives in the provinces,” he said.
He said the PIFITA bill seeks to introduce reforms in the taxation of the financial sector “so that it becomes simpler, fairer, more efficient, and regionally competitive.”
In a related development deputy speaker and 1-Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero proposed the grant of tax incentives for medical professionals who render free medical services to indigent patients.
In filing House Bill 984, Romero, president of the 55-member Party-list Coalition, said the efforts of doctors and other health care professionals to help the poor “must not go unrewarded.”
“While the state is struggling to provide free health care to its people, legislation should be geared towards ways to bring free or affordable health care to indigent patients,” he said.
He proposed that medical practitioners who provide free consultation and care to poor patients be entitled to a tax deduction equivalent to 10 percent of the fees they would otherwise charge for their services.
Romero said although the Constitution makes it the responsibility of the state to protect and promote the right to health of Filipinos, “access to health care has become an issue of capacity to pay.”
It is in this light that the efforts of many health professionals to give free services to poor people should be appreciated, he said.