Tax-free donations for calamity victims pushed
DONATIONS for Filipinos affected by calamities should be tax-free because they mainly come from people’s money.
UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque, a former member of the House of Representatives, said Filipinos donate goods or money from their savings.
Roque authored House Bill 3274 when he was a congressman. The bill seeks to provide tax relief through tax exemption in times of calamity.
“As long as the proper Sanggunian declares a calamity, donations in favor of the victims shall be exempt from taxation notwithstanding the nature of the business of the organization,” the bill stated.
Roque said multinationals and some individuals would want to give huge sums to organizations helping calamity victims, but the massive sum for donor’s tax is a problem.
He added that donors should be exempted from tax to charitable organizations. Still, there are accreditation requirements before the exemption can be applied, such as submitting paperwork due to Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) audit procedures.
Roque stressed that not all relief operations organizations are accredited charitable organizations.
The bill further states that any donation in the name of any organization that declares that the funds donated shall favor the calamity victims shall be exempt from donor’s tax. The exemption from the donor’s tax shall automatically apply, and the BIR shall not require any accreditation requirements.
