A bill seeking to provide a one-month income tax holiday amid the multi-billion ghost infrastructure projects controversy was proposed by Acting Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Senator Erwin Tulfo.
Tulfo meanwhile thanked Senate President Tito Sotto and his colleagues for having tasked him to become Acting Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
“Umaasa tayo na sa lalong madaling panahon ay makakahanap na rin ng permanenteng Chairman ang napakahalagang komiteng ito. Batid ko po na maraming kababayan natin ang umaasa sa komiteng ito na imbestigahan ang lahat ng mga nagsamantala sa pera ng bayan ano pa man ang katungkulan nila sa pamahalaan o kulay ng politika,” Tulfo said.
The lawmaker Tulfo filed Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1446, known as the ‘One-Month Tax Holiday of 2025’ as he acknowledged the need for a “far, extraordinary and immediate form of relief” that will return benefits directly to the people, particularly the working population.
He said: “The exposure of alleged anomalies on flood control projects, involving billions of pesos in public funds have gravely eroded public trust in government fiscal stewardship. The Filipino people have raised a clear and resounding clamor— ‘Ibalik ang pera ng bayan. Ibaba ang tax.’
“The welfare of the people is the supreme law. It is therefore just and necessary that the State respond by providing tangible relief to the very taxpayers who sustain it,” he added.
Under Tulfo’s measure, the one-time, one-month income tax holiday will be applicable to individual taxpayers receiving compensation income which will be on the first payroll month immediately following the approval of the bill. For mixed income earners, only the portion classified as compensation income shall be exempted from income tax.
The proposed tax holiday will not cover the mandatory contributions to the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System, PhilHealth, Home Development Mutual Fund and loan amortizations and other payments voluntarily authorized by the employee.
Too, the proposed bill includes a non-diminution clause which will ensure that employers could not reduce employee wages during the tax holiday month.
“While taxation is recognized as the lifeblood of the State, we must equally recognize that his lifeblood flows from the people themselves,” said Tulfo who, during the Senate probe on the flood control anomalies, has staunchly advocated the return of the people’s money allegedly siphoned by corrupt government officials and contractors.
