THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers slammed the Bureau of Internal Revenue for slapping a 20 percent tax on the election service pay of teachers.

The group said that the government’s taxation policies and its enforcement are “big, cruel jokes” on low-earners like public school teachers.

The group bewailed that the BIR increased the tax on the honoraria and allowances received by board of election inspectors, majority of whom are teachers from 5 percent to 20 percent, supposedly in accordance with the TRAIN Law.

“Our taxation system is a joke, and so is this government! Kaming mga guro walang pakundangan kung pigain sa buwis, habang hindi masingil-singil ang Marcoses sa P203 billion na utang nito sa estate taxes,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

He lamented the injustice of the TRAIN law that imposed heavier taxes on income, goods, and services, while its second tranche — the CREATE Act — provided tax cuts, reliefs, and incentives to corporations.

ACT members joined a multisectoral protest at the BIR’s main office in Quezon City to demand the collection of the P203-billion unsettled estate taxes of the Marcoses. They called on the BIR to go after the Marcos family instead of “squeezing BEIs dry” with the 20 percent tax on their election service pay.