Press Release
October 7, 2008

ROXAS: P5,000 PER MINIMUM WAGE EARNER LOST DUE TO BIR

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) virtually stole P5,000 from each of the almost 3 million minimum wage earners in the country by insisting on its ruling that the tax exemption law approved by Congress should be applied starting only in July, Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said today.

Roxas reiterated his demand for the retroactive application of the income tax exemptions given to minimum wage earners to cover the entire year of 2008 since this was the intention of Congress.

"Ito ang paulit-ulit nating panawagan: Hindi dapat tayo ginugulangan ng gobyerno. Pinaglalaban natin sa Korte Suprema ang dagdag na kita na P36 kada araw, o halos P5,000 magmula Enero hanggang Hunyo," he said.

"Ninakawan na nga ng BIR ng P5,000 ang ating mga manggagawa, ipinagkait pa ang tax exemption sa iba pa na may extra allowance samantalang wala naman sa batas ito," he said.

Roxas is the prime author of Republic Act No. 9504, the law that exempts minimum wage earners from income taxes and increases the personal exemptions of other workers. The Department of Finance (DoF) has recently completed the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the new legislation, which limited the tax coverage only from July instead of the beginning of this year, and disqualifies minimum wage earners receiving additional allowances.

"Imbes na sundin ang batas, ang ginawa ng BIR ay pinrotektahan ang koleksyon ng gobyerno. Hindi naman tama ito. Dapat ay ibigay nila ng buo ang benepisyo sa mga manggagawa," he stressed.

Roxas, along with various labor groups, has gone to the Supreme Court seeking the full implementation of the law, beginning January this year and not only starting July, as stated in the IRR.

He had also questioned before the tribunal the limitations imposed by the BIR, among them the non-inclusion of minimum wage earners who get additional financial benefits, like rice and transportation allowances, from their employers.

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