House committee targets Q1 passage of tax amnesty bill

THE House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee aims to pass a bill granting a general tax amnesty in the first quarter to give the chamber enough time to approve it by June, a lawmaker said, pushing swift congressional action so the measure could take effect as early as 2027.

Marikina Rep. Miro S. Quimbo, who heads the committee, said the panel plans to consolidate pending proposals and draft a final version it can sponsor for plenary approval, but is awaiting input from the Department of Finance (DoF).

“We expect to finish the matter by the first quarter,” he told BusinessWorld by telephone on Jan. 14. “We want to expedite it so that it can be taken up in plenary and approved by the House before the end of the first regular session.”

He said early House approval would allow the Senate to act on the bill within the year, opening the door for the tax amnesty to take effect by April 2027, the next taxable period.

“It’s critical that we get this approved before the end of the first regular session so the Senate can take it up,” Mr. Quimbo said. “They have until November this year, so that by the taxable calendar or period it will already be in place.”

A general tax amnesty is part of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s legislative priorities for the 20^th Congress. Bills proposing such a measure have been filed in both chambers but remain at the committee level.

Business groups and foreign chambers earlier said a tax amnesty would help expand the tax base by encouraging delinquent taxpayers to settle outstanding liabilities and re-enter the formal system.

Mr. Quimbo said he has yet to sit down with interim Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go to discuss the agency’s position and preferred structure for the bill.

“We want to make sure that the leadership of the Department of Finance is also on board,” he said. “That’s our primordial issue.”

Under the 1987 Constitution, all tax measures must originate from the House of Representatives, giving it a key role in shaping fiscal policy.

The House tax panel, Mr. Quimbo said, is waiting for the DoF’s final comments before formally taking up the bill.

“There are several versions of it, and I think it’s important that we thresh this out with the Department of Finance even before we can start taking it up at the committee level,” he said.

At least three House bills propose granting a general tax amnesty covering unpaid income, withholding, capital gains, donor’s, value-added and other percentage taxes, as well as excise and documentary stamp taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs.

The proposals set amnesty rates at either 2% of a taxpayer’s total assets as of December 2024 or 5% of total net worth, depending on the version.

A general tax amnesty could help boost state revenue by widening the tax base, said Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

“This would help to eventually improve the National Government’s fiscal performance and position,” he said in a Viber message. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio