Teachers to Senators: Remove tax on election pay
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers called on senators to legislate a measure to exempt from taxes the salaries and allowances of teachers who serve on 2022 election.
The group urged senators to pass a counterpart bill for House Bill 9652, which was approved on third and final reading in 2021.
“With the increase in the tax imposition on our paltry election service honoraria and allowances, we need our senators now more than ever to act with urgency and heed our long-standing call: alleviate our teacher-poll workers from hefty and onerous taxes!” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said.
The group was against the imposition of 20 percent tax on the honoraria and allowances received by Board of Election Inspector members.
“Our teachers deserve to get in full their honoraria and allowances, which hardly sufficed to truly recognize and compensate their honest and vital work every election day. However small the increases in poll work pay, they are still a product of our teachers’ fight for better pay and should not be taken away from them by any means; especially considering how little the government stands to gain from taxing our BEIs—estimated to only be around P450 million,” Basilio said.
“Rendering services during elections is already a daunting task as it is. Our teacher-poll workers volunteer to perform their patriotic duty every elections, despite the risks on their lives and well-being. The least our government can do is to sufficiently remunerate them for their services and let them fully enjoy the modest amounts they receive. Scrap the 20 percent tax on BEI honoraria and allowances!” he added.
