LOWERING the tax rate on the honoraria and allowances of teachers and other individuals who render service during the elections is “improper,” an official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue said.

Anne Loraine Garcia of the BIR’s law and legislative division said it would not be right to lower the tax on professional fees since the teachers provide services outside of their profession. She added that under the law, those with annual taxable income beyond ₱250,000 are subject to a 20% tax.

This stand was echoed by the Department of Finance.

“We do not support the proposed tax exemption,” Arvin Lawrence Quiñones, Director IV of the DOF’s policy, research, and liaison office, told senators last Thursday, obviously referring to the demand of a teachers group to exempt poll honoraria from taxes.

Quiñones explained that the honoraria and benefits given by the Commission on Elections to poll workers form part of their gross income, which is subject to tax.

He said that the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN law provides sufficient relief for taxpayers and additional exemptions may go against the goal of making the taxation system more efficient and equitable.

“Exempting one kind of activity, in this case, the electoral services that our teachers provide, will be inequitable to other similar activities that provide the similar kinds of benefits. It’s like saying we want to prefer one service and give exemptions to them, to the detriment of others,” he said.