The House of Representatives has recommended for Senate action a bill that grants tax amnesty to errant taxpayers.
House Bill 8554 or the “Tax Amnesty Act of 2018,” principally authored by Party-list Rep. Michael Romero of 1-PACMAN party-list, was approved on third and final reading Tuesday night on a vote of 213-7 with no abstention
The bill, Romero said, is expected to raise additional P114.8 billion in immediate revenues for the government, clear case backlogs in both administrative and court proceedings, and enhance revenue administrations by having a wider tax base.
Suansing noted that the last amnesty was granted in 2007 through Republic Act 9480 where 25,017 applicants paid some P7.2 billion pesos, or 0.07 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
For the next 10 years, HB 8554 will be the amnesty program that the government will apply in conjunction with one of the legislative priorities of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The provisions of HB 8554 encompass Estate Tax Amnesty, General Tax Amnesty, and Tax Amnesty on Delinquencies.
On the matter of the Estate Tax Amnesty, Suansing observed that estate taxes account for a very small percentage of the tax collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
