By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Knowing the adverse effect and financial burden brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, neophyte lawmaker and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Niña Taduran urged the national government to extend the tax credit to middle-income earners in the midst of the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic.
Speaking to THEPHILBIZNEWS, the Assistant House Majority Leader pointed out that middle-income families need financial assistance at this time when they are forced to stay home and spend more on their needs.
“We know that globally, the pandemic has created unexpected problems for the people, and so with our very own country. While we at the ACT CIS Partylist have been helping out many people even our frontliners from the time the lockdown started, I also realized that the middle middle-income earners need support from the government,” Congresswoman Tadurant pointed out.
“There are many single mothers there, and I empathize with them. Because if you are shouldering the financial responsibility alone, this would really be a burden,” Taduran continued.
“The middle-income families are not exempted by the slowdown in the economy and the work stoppage. They could be small businessmen or employed but their companies couldn’t sustain their operations. And I believe that the government can extend financial assistance to them through a tax credit equivalent amount distributed to poor families under the social amelioration program,” Taduran added.
“So if they are paying taxes around ₱5, 000 to ₱8, 000 and this will be given as tax credit, that amount given back to them can be used for the needs of their family. And for me, that is the very essence of Bayanihan Spirit, everybody carries the burden and I believe that as Filipinos we can bring back in this trying times that Bayanihan is peculiar in the Filipino culture, let us revive it now in this little gesture of charity and kindness”, the neophyte lawmaker explained.
When asked if she knows the repercussion and financial impact of this to the government’s coffer, Taduran said, “While this may initially result in a loss of income to the government, the added purchasing power of the middle class will help stimulate the economy through the purchases they make. It is akin to deficit spending especially now that the global economy is not good and the economic growth for 2020 is grim.”
“The government should look at this as form of goodwill to our taxpayers. Because whatever they give would be inevitably spent and this would not even require additional budgetary expense on the part of the government,” Taduran concluded.
