Tax credit grant for retailers honoring senior/PWD discounts referred to BIR

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has referred to the tax authorities proposals to grant tax credits to retailers honoring the expanded discount benefit to senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

“It is not within DTI’s mandate to determine rules with respect to tax; that is why we referred this to the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) for them to come up with either a revenue regulation on the tax treatment or if they will refer it to Congress to amend the law,” DTI Consumer Protection Group Assistant Secretary Amanda F. Nograles told reporters on Friday.

“It is clear that they want to have a tax deduction because if that happens, the burden will fall on the government,” she added.

Ms. Nograles said that Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, is “silent” with respect to the tax treatment of special discounts on basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) for seniors and PWDs.

Business groups have raised concerns about the proposal of the government to raise the senior citizen and PWD discount for BNPCs to P500 a month.

On Thursday, the DTI released the draft administrative order for the “2024 Revised Rules on Granting Special Discounts to Senior Citizens and Persons with Disability on the Purchase of Basic Necessities and Prime Commodities.”

Under the draft, every senior citizen or PWD is entitled to a special discount of 5% of the regular retail price of BNPCs, but without exemption from the value-added tax.

“The total amount of special discount on their BNPC purchase shall not exceed P125.00 per week, without carryover of the unused amount,” the draft read.

“This special discount total amount shall be reviewed every five years by the concerned agencies, accounting for inflation, among others,” it added.

Ms. Nograles said that the publication of the draft order will allow the scheduling of the public consultation this week.

“We will collate all of the comments and try to reconcile everything. Hopefully, after that, we will come up with another revision of the joint administrative order, and if everything is good, it will be signed by the secretaries of the three departments,” Ms. Nograles said.

“We are aligned that our target is to publish the joint administrative order by the end of March, and it will be immediately effective,” she added. —