The Department of Finance (DOF) guarantees that senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) will retain their exemption from the value-added tax (VAT) under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program.
Senator Sonny Angara says, he got this assurance from the DOF.
The lawmaker says, the Finance Department will now draft a revised tax reform proposal that will retain the VAT exemption of senior citizens and PWDs.
Angara chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which is conducting hearings on the Duterte administation’s tax reform program.
Duterte’s economic managers seek to decrease personal income tax rates, expand the VAT base and adjust the excise taxes for fuel and automobiles.
Angara co-authored the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 which grants VAT exemption to the elderlies.
He also sponsored Republic Act 10754 that exempts PWDs from VAT.
The law for PWDs enacted in March 2016 but it was only implemented last December.
“About 7.5 million senior citizens and 1.4 million PWDs are entitled to these benefits,” he estimates.
