Lawmakers bat schools’ exemption from VAT

IN EFFORT to ease the burden of parents and working students to acquire education, Cagayan de Oro second district and Abante Mindanao Representative Rufus and Maximo Rodriguez are pushing to exempt the educational institutions from the value added tax (VAT) on the purchases of their goods and services.

In a statement, the Rodriguezes said House Bill 5916 seeks to amend Republic Act 8424, known as the Tax Reform Act of 1997, by exempting from VAT goods purchased by the school and services rendered to it by its suppliers and service providers.

“Unfortunately, the VAT is passed on by the school to the students which make it more difficult for them to afford the high tuition,” the Maximo Rodriguez said.

He added that one of the factors that place a big burden to the people is the schools’ high tuition, which is aggravated by the VAT.

Under HB 5916, VAT exemption includes education services rendered by private educational institutions accredited by the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and those rendered by government education institutions, as well as all goods purchased and services rendered to the schools by suppliers and service providers respectively.

In this development, Councilor Edgar Cabanlas agreed to the measure, saying it is a big help to parents and working students especially with the impending tuition increases, following petitions filed by universities and colleges nationwide.

“At least this will lessen the burden of the parent to consider the difficulties that we are facing these days,” Cabanlas told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

Four schools in Cagayan de Oro had already filed petition before the Ched to increase their school fees. This prompted the City Hall to request the higher education department to hold over.