Tax perks for wealthy philanthropists sought

ANAKALUSUGAN Rep. Michael T. Defensor wants to give lucrative tax benefits to private corporations and wealthy individuals that will sponsor the Covid-19 vaccination of public school teachers and students.

In his proposed House Bill (HB) 9200, Defensor said private entities paying for the Covid-19 jabs of 933,000 teachers and 23 million children will be entitled to claim 150 percent of what they spent for the shots as “additional deduction” from gross income subject to tax.

The bill seeks to include Covid-19 vaccines as qualified donations under the 23-year-old “Adopt-a-school ” program.

“We want to ramp up the immunization of our teachers and, later, our children, by encouraging the private sector to come in and help,” Defensor, vice chairperson of the House committee on welfare of children, said.

“We recognize that many businesses and affluent families are already helping to suppress the pandemic in so many ways, such as by spending for the inoculation of their employees and their dependents,” he added. Defensor believes the bill will help prevent “donor fatigue” and “encourage more private entities to help some more by contributing to the vaccination of our teachers and children.”

The Adopt-a-school program was established by Congress in 1998 through Republic Act 8525 to help mobilize private funds in addressing the school system’s persistent resource gaps.

Under the program, donors of qualified materials and supplies to public schools may further deduct from their gross income up to 150 percent of the value of their contribution.

For example, should a corporation sponsor P10-million worth of supplies, it may claim an extra deduction of up to P15 million from gross income.

For purposes of claiming deductions, the valuation of the donation other than cash is based on the acquisition cost or purchase price of the materials or services supplied as evidenced by official receipts.

Earlier, Defensor said he expects Covid-19 shots for Filipino children below 16 years old to be approved by regulators and available in the country by the summer of 2022.

“There is a high probability that we won’t have extensive face-toface classes in the School Year 2021 to 2022, considering that vaccine clinical trials abroad on younger children are just getting started,” Defensor said.

The president has repeatedly said he will not allow large-scale faceto-face classes in public and private elementary and high schools until a vaccine becomes available.