‘Exempt election honoraria of teachers from tax’

MANILA – As the registration for the May 2022 polls opens on January 20, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is urgently calling for the passage of a bill that aims to grant tax exemption to the honoraria, transportation allowance, and other benefits of poll workers, especially public school teachers.

Gatchalian’s proposed measure, Senate Bill 1193, introduces amendments to the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 so teachers can receive the full amount of their honoraria

and other benefits.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue started imposing a 5% withholding tax on poll workers’ election service honoraria and other allowances since the 2018 barangay elections.

The bill also aims to exclude their honoraria and allowances from gross income.

Gatchalian said the proposed measure is the best way to thank teachers and other poll workers for ensuring clean, honest and orderly elections in the country.

Under the Election Service Reform Act (ESRA), chairpersons of electoral boards are each entitled to receive P6,000. Each member of electoral boards receives P5,000. Department of Education Supervisor Officials (DESO) receive P4,000 each while support staff receives P2,000 each. A travel allowance of P1,000 is also allotted to each of these poll workers.

The ESRA, though, has no provision for tax exemption.

The lawmaker emphasized that despite the continuous service that these poll workers render to ensure the transmission of results, they still have to pay income tax if their annual taxable income, which includes such honoraria and allowances, exceeds the PHP250,000 threshold under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.