Pangilinan supports lowering income tax of private schools

SENATOR Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan supports calls to lower the tax rate imposed on private learning institutions to 10 percent so as not to affect the schooling of around four million students amid the pandemic.

Pangilinan issued the pronouncement after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) increased the corporate income tax collected from private schools to 25 percent pursuant to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law.

"Mabigat na pasanin ito para sa mga private schools dahil katumbas ito ng 150 porsiyentong pagtaas sa karaniwan nilang binabayaran," said Pangilinan.

The senator said the increase could lead to closure of more private learning institutions that have been badly hit by the pandemic. It was reported that around 800 private schools have been forced to shut down after students have shifted to distance learning since last year.

"Ngunit mas mabigat ito sa mga magulang at mga estudyanteng nag-aaral sa mga private schools dahil sa kanila ipapasa ang pagtaas na ito," he added.

The House Committee on Ways and Means recently passed a measure that brings back the income tax rate to the previous 10 percent, from the 25 percent that the BIR is eyeing. It would also allow private schools to avail of the one percent tax rate from July 2020 to June 2023 under the CREATE Law.