MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on ways and means has approved in principle House Bill 1039, which seeks to exempt persons with disability (PWD) from the value added tax (VAT) on certain goods and services.
Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo said the panel agreed to refer the bill —authored by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — to a technical working group (TWG) to fine tune it and reconcile the minor disagreements on the implementation aspect.
“Essentially there has been a consensus already to give it (VAT exemption). We will just have to refer to the TWG for purposes of fine tuning and reconciling the minor disagreements on the implementation as to how and who will define a PWD,” Quimbo said,
The lawmaker said the committee still needs clarification from Department of Health (DOH) for assurance that any VAT exemption given to PWDs will not be abused.
As to the revenue loss issue being raised by those opposing the bill, he said such is miniscule relative to the social impact of the proposal.
“The bigger picture here really is PWDs today, while nobody wants to admit it, a great majority of them are burdens. So they are economic burdens because they are not productive, they’re not doing anything that adds to the economy because of the lack of opportunities as well as to the stigma,” he said.
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He said what the bill aims to do is try to bring PWDs into the mainstream of society so that they become productive members of society.
“What we seek to do is to convert a non-performing asset, not just an asset but in fact a burden, to become even more productive. So today, they are a medical burden; they are burden to the family, etc., a great number of them anyway. But with these (VAT exemptions), these are just drops in the bucket towards their mainstreaming,” he said.
House Bill 1039 seeks to amend Section 32 of Republic Act 7277, otherwise known as the “Magna Carta for Persons with Disability,” as amended by RA 9442, by providing that PWDs shall be exempted from VAT in addition to the 20-percent discount they are already enjoying for the classes of goods and services.
Romualdez, who heads the independent bloc in the House of Representatives, said his proposal is an equalizing measure because this will accord PWDs exactly the same privilege enjoyed by senior citizens who are exempted from the VAT by virtue of RA 9994.
“Persons with disability effectively enjoy only P12 for every P100 worth of good or service because the law does not exempt them from VAT, which is imposed on the net value of the good or service or 10 percent of the P80 after deducting P20, representing the 20-percent discount granted in RA 9442, for every P100 worth of good or service purchased,” he said.
The proposed VAT exemption shall apply on the following: medical and dental services; purchase of medicines in all drugstores; public railways, skyways and bus fare; admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses, carnivals and other places of culture, leisure and amusement; and all services in hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants, and recreation centers.
