SENATOR Pia Cayetano on Tuesday urged all government agencies to support private schools so that they can be effective partners of the government in educating children.

“Private schools are the government’s partners in education. This partnership is even more crucial today, as our nation deals with the Covid19 pandemic, which has disrupted our educational system and the formal learning of our current generation of students,” the senator said.

Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate Ways and Means committee, welcomed the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s  move to suspend the preferential tax rates of private schools.

On June 30, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing on Senate Bill 2272 filed by Sen. Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara that amends Section 27B of the National Internal Revenue Code on the preferential tax rates of private schools.

Senate Bill 2272 effectively clarifies that the preferential tax rate of 10 percent under the NIRC which was lowered by the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act to 1 percent from July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2023 applies to all private schools — putting an end to the debates as to whether for-profit private schools were covered or not.

Cayetano committed to file a committee report based on the said bill.

“Since tax bills must emanate from the House, we will await the transmittal of the House version. But I do believe it will be an easy bill to pass,” she added.