More lawmakers have joined the House leadership in pushing for the passage of the measure seeking to reduce personal and corporate income tax rates. Las Piñas City Representative Mark Villar, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu separately filed bills seeking to amend Sections 24 and 35 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended. “Our country suffers from inequalities. One of the said inequalities that continuously batter our countrymen is our current tax system,” Villar said. He noted that an analysis of tax policies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) manifests that the Philippines has the second highest average tax rate, following Vietnam and Thailand. While, Singapore has the lowest marginal tax rate of both ends of its tax bracket spectrum at 20 percent for the wealthiest and two percent for the lowest qualifying income earners, he said. [...]
