Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Friday said that existing income-tax brackets must be adjusted to current inflation rates, as he called for reforms in the country’s taxation scheme.
“Our tax system must be seen as fair—meaning, those with fat pay checks pay higher taxes than those whose pay checks are less—and inflation-adjusted tax brackets, albeit reduction of tax revenues, is simply fairness,” he said.
The Vice President, quoting the Tax Management Association of the Philippines, said the Philippines has the highest income tax in Asia: 32 percent for those with at least P500,000 annual income.
“Dinaig pa natin ang pinakamayamang bansa sa Asean tulad ng Brunei kung saan zero percent ang income tax rate at Singapore na nasa 2 percent lamang [We’re even better than the richest countries in Asean, like Brunei, where the income-tax rate is zero, and Singapore, which is only 2 percent],” he said.
Binay said that, while Malacañang has denied it several times, the belief that the administration has blocked the passage of pending legislation lowering the income tax cannot be disregarded.
“The solid evidence: not less than 17 proposed bills pending today, yet not one of them could expect to be passed by the present Congress,” he said.