Duterte issues partial veto on tax amnesty bill

President Rodrigo Duterte has issued a partial veto on the bill seeking general tax amnesty for all unpaid tax obligations, including estate taxes, general taxes, and delinquent accounts due for taxable year 2017 and prior years.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed the development on Friday.

Medialdea, however, did not say which provisions of the bill were vetoed by the President.

Under the Constitution, the President has line-item veto power for any budget, tax and tariff bill passed by Congress.

The bill aims to raise up to P41 billion, which will be used to finance crucial infrastructure projects and augment appropriations needed for the social mitigating measures under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN law.

About P500 million will be used exclusively to establish a tax database.

The bill gives the taxpayers the option to submit either a Statement of Total Assets or a Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, along with a general tax amnesty return, when availing of the amnesty.

For general tax amnesty, Congress had agreed that taxpayers would be given the option to choose the rate between 2 percent of total assets or 5 percent of net worth or a minimum tax.

Taxpayers can also avail of a reprieve from all estate taxes, and instead pay 6 percent based on the decedent’s total net estate.

The bill also covers an amnesty on delinquencies. Taxpayers can avail of 40 percent of the basic tax for delinquencies and assessments that have become final and executory, 50 percent for cases subject of final and executory judgment by the courts, and 60 percent for those subject of pending criminal cases.

Taxpayers will be given a year from the issuance of the implementing rules and regulations to avail of the amnesty, except for estate tax amnesty where taxpayers will be given two years to avail. Discounts will be granted for early availers.

Those who avail of the amnesty program will be immune from payment of all taxes and the filing of civil, criminal, and administrative cases and penalties.

Any information and data provided shall be confidential and shall not be admissible as evidence in any proceeding. Also, the books of accounts and other records of the taxpayer for the years covered by the tax amnesty availed of shall not be examined by the BIR.

Unlawful divulgence of tax amnesty return and supporting documents also has corresponding penalties under the bill. — BAP, GMA News