As allegations of waste and corruption in flood control projects grip the country, Filipino taxpayers increasingly believe they are shortchanged by the tax system and remain skeptical of tax authorities, bucking a regional pattern in Asia where citizens generally feel taxes are spent for the public good.

According to the “Public trust in tax 2025: Asia and beyond” report published last December by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Philippines emerged as a notable outlier in Asia on key measures of trust in taxation and public spending.

The study found that in 12 of 19 Asian countries, more respondents agreed than disagreed with the statement “I feel that the public services and infrastructure I receive are a fair return for the taxes I pay.” East and Southeast Asia were especially positive, though the Philippines and Japan “showed a net disagreement,” the report said.

A similar divergence appeared in perceptions of government spending, with 11 of 19 Asian countries recording net agreement with the statement “tax revenues in my country are spent for the public good.” Southeast Asia posted the strongest confidence overall, “though not in the Philippines where there was a net disagreement of -4 percent,” the report noted.

Trust gaps widened further on political representation, as 13 of 19 Asian countries agreed with the statement “I believe that my preferences as a taxpayer are listened to and represented by the government,” while none of the countries outside Asia showed net agreement. The Philippines again stood out as the only Southeast Asian country with net disagreement.

Overall, respondents in Southeast Asia and China reported the most positive beliefs and experiences of the tax system, but the report observed that “the Philippines [was] generally being somewhat less positive” across indicators measuring the fiscal contract and tax administration performance.

The report also showed that corruption strongly affects Filipino taxpayers’ attitudes toward taxation, with 84 percent of respondents saying corruption is a “major” factor—the highest share across all geographies surveyed.

In addition, a higher share of Filipino respondents cited “tax is not well spent” (39 percent) as well as “tax system is not fair” (31 percent) when asked, “Do you justify cheating on taxes because...?” compared with most of their regional peers.

These perceptions come amid heightened scrutiny following the flood-control infrastructure scandal, which exposed alleged irregularities in public spending and intensified public debate over accountability and governance.

A survey respondent from the Philippines was quoted by the report as saying: “I think taxation should be clearly and accurately taught to students as early as high school so they will be knowledgeable in the future on how this will affect them when they start to earn money.”