Bill for easy tax payments to be discussed in House plenary

By Billy Begas

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda on Tuesday said that the plenary of the House of Representatives will start deliberating on the measure that will make paying of taxes easier.

Salceda, who chaired the House Committee on Ways and Means said the House Rules Committee has given the go signal to discuss the proposed Ease of Paying Taxes Act (House Bill 7881).

“One of the roots of our lack of competitiveness is low tax morale. People aren’t excited to pay taxes because the process is tedious, and open to abuse and rent-seeking,” said Salceda, author of the measure.

The measure will allow an overseas Filipino worker to file Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and invest in the Philippines, establish an office of the taxpayer advocate, and codify a bill of rights for taxpayers to encourage tax compliance and protect taxpayer welfare.

“The taxpayer who volunteers to pay taxes should face little if any difficulty doing so. Those who want to pay taxes should feel very welcome to do so,” he said.

The bill includes provisions that will allow most processes in tax payment to be accessible remotely and relaxes rules on returns filing and the payment of taxes so that taxpayers can comply with tax requirements anywhere in the country.

“This is part of a bigger picture: the simplification and modernization of government processes. This is one of four pillars. The other three are ease of registering and operating a business, ease of public service delivery, and ease of government procurement. The other three pillars are in House Bill No. 8455 which I filed today,” Salceda added.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)