SENATOR Joel Villanueva again called on the Bureau of Internal Revenue to revoke its regulation imposing a 25 percent tax on private schools, saying they are partners of the state in educating the youth.

The senator warned that anything that threatens the viability of private schools affects the future of the children.

Instead of imposing higher taxes, the government should support private schools in giving quality education, he said.

“It is clear that we have to help rather than increase the burden of over 14,435 private basic education institutions, 1,729 private universities and colleges, 4,001private technical-vocational institutions in the country, which may be unduly affected by the illogical increase in their corporate income tax,” Villanueva said.

The chairman of the Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education said that the BIR should revoke Revenue Regulation 5-2021 which slaps a 25 percent corporate income tax on private schools.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara agreed with Villanueva, saying that private schools are in dire straits.

Lawmakers have criticized the BIR for its move to impose high taxes on private schools, which have yet to recover from the impact of the pandemic.