Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo has taken concrete steps to pay tribute to the sacrifices of teachers in ensuring a credible and orderly elections through the filing of a bill which seeks to exempt from income tax payments their compensation from poll services.
The measure, House bill 7703, seeks to exempt compensation such as allowances and honoraria earned by teachers serving in national and local elections from income tax to show appreciation to teachers who are true public servants.
The bill will do away with circuitous processes for teachers to avail of tax exemptions for their poll duty honoraria and travel allowances as members of the Board of Election Tellers (BET) under current Revenue rules.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requires a mandatory five-percent withholding tax on compensations for teachers’ service during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.
“The tax, equivalent to P350 from the P6,000 honoria each teacher will receive for serving as BET is precious to each teacher who still receives a small amount compared to the dedicated work they render,” Castelo said.
The withheld tax can be returned if a teacher proves through the filing of the income tax return where the annual total compensation does not exceed P250,000 which is tax-free under the Tax Reform for Acceleration (TRAIN) law.
“The BIR provision is senseless since revenue officials should have just asked the Department of Education (DepEd) on the teachers serving as BET since they fall under Teacher I and Teacher II whose annual income does not reach P250,000 even with the incorporation of the poll honorarium,” Castelo said.
Castelo said the aim of collecting higher revenues “should not cloud government sensitivity to the plight of teachers.”
Castelo said teachers have been at the forefront of every electoral exercise, rendering their time and energy to protect the sanctity of the ballot and ensure the peaceful conduct of the election.
Teachers have been at the forefront of every electoral exercise, rendering their time and energy to protect the sanctity of the ballot and ensure the peaceful conduct of the election.
“It is only appropriate that they must be properly compensated for their service and to ensure that the compensation they will receive is not encumbered by tax,” he added.
“With their immense experience in carrying out this act of public service, teachers also subject their lives to danger thus the government should reciprocate this with a show of appreciation,” he added.
Teachers also subject their lives to danger thus the government should reciprocate this with a show of appreciation.
Under the bill, all compensation received by teachers for rendering services as part of the Electoral Board for the national and local elections shall not be included in the computation of gross income and shall be exempt from income tax.