Exempting the honoraria of teacher-poll workers from tax is up to Congress through law amendment, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday, April 6, said.
Education Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua, during the “Laging Handa” public briefing, said that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) already agreed on the 20 percent tax exemption of volunteer teachers during the national and local elections.
However, Pascua said there was no amendment to the law granting such exemption to teachers who will serve in the May 2022 polls.
“May batas na kailangang i-amend bago ma-implement ang exemption (There’s a law that needs to be amended before we can implement the exemption),” Pascua said.
The Congress, Pascua said, was not able to made amendment to the Internal Revenue Code “kaya hanggang ngayon, ang ating honoraria at allowances, hindi sila tax-exempted (this is why until now, the honoraria and allowances are not tax-exempted).”
Pascua, who also heads DepEd's Election Task Force, said this as a response to the clamor of teachers’ groups to ensure that the honoraria and allowances of teachers who will serve in the elections will be tax-free.
Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) held a protest action at the Comelec office asking for a dialogue to address the concerns of teacher-poll workers related to the elections.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/04/06/teachers-hold-rally-in-front-of-comelec-to-push-for-dialogue/
Among the issues raised by ACT is the scrapping of the tax-imposition on on election service pay which was recently hiked from five percent to 20 percent.
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https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/23/alleviate-teachers-of-election-service-tax-senate-urged/