DIRECTOR’S Cut: (This portion features the thoughts of DepED 11 OIC Regional Director Nenita E. Lumaad, CSEE to all stakeholders and recipients of the efforts to improve the basic education) "You have to be familiar with all the programs and projects of our organization and you have to be accountable to each one. There should be sense of urgency in whatever you do.”
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A parent, or any person exercising parental authority, who shoulders the college tuition fees and other expenses, will be allowed a deduction of not more than P40,000 for each dependent not exceeding 4 for the taxable year.
That will happen if Senate Bill 2228 which seeks to amend Section 34 of the National Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines, which specifies the deductions allowed filed on May by Senator Juan Edgardo Angara will become a law.
Angara’s contention is that such initiative is also a way of encouraging the parents to send their children to school and for working students to continue their education because of the tax incentives they could get.
The Senator said tax deductions increase the take-home pay of a taxpayer as the taxable income decreases.
In a report in Rappler written by Jee Y. Geronimo, Angara was quoted explaining that in the proposed bill, a parent, or any person exercising parental authority, who shoulders the college tuition fees and other expenses, will be allowed a deduction of not more than P40,000 for each dependent not exceeding 4 for the taxable year.
The bill includes even vocational and technical courses, as long as taken after high school and even working students supporting themselves can benefit from the proposed amendment.
In the case of married individuals, only one spouse can claim the deductions meant for educational expenses in post-secondary courses of higher educational and technical and vocational institutions while for legally-separated spouses, only the one with the custody of the dependent can avail of the deductions.
Angara was quick to defend that the bill must not be seen as a possible revenue loss for the government but the bigger picture of producing more college graduates to provide significant contributions to the country must be considered.
Angara also cited that other countries allow deductions meant for educational expenses like Malaysia which allows a deduction of 5,000 ringgit (P69,000) and up to 4,000 ringgit (P55,000) for a taxpayer enrolled in college and for taxpayers whose dependent is a college student older than 18 years old respectively, Thailand with an additional 2,000 baht (P2,700) for every child is granted for educational allowance aside from the tax deductions and the United States which allows a maximum of $4,000 (P176,000) in tax deductions from a taxpayer’s income.
Angara concluded that providing tax deductions is an effective way of helping the poor and underprivileged Filipino families who have to spend a huge part of their small incomes to pay for education.
This corner hopes that the other lawmakers will support bills like this which are really significant in supporting the backbone of the nation -- EDUCATION.
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You can access DepED Updates, latest issuances, photos and other relevant information through our website: http://www.deped.gov.ph and our Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/deped.regionxi.
For comments, suggestions and/or contributions, send your email to region11@deped.gov.ph.
For queries, complains and other concerns, call DepED Region 11 at RDO – 221-6147 , 291-1665, ARDO – 227-1102, ADM/Personnel – 225-0816, Asset/Supply – 227-0941, BFD – 225-8495, Cashier – 291-1738, CLMD/SED – 222-2653, ESSD/HNU – 224-0468, FTAD/PESS – 224-0748, ICT – 221-3288, Legal – 224-0352, PPRD/Elem – 224-0750, PSU – 225-6358, QAD – 224-0757 and Records – 224-0752 or fax to (082) 227-1102 and (082) 221-6147.