Bill to give additional tax breaks to those taking care of elderly parents

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

Taxpayers taking care of their elderly parents should enjoy additional tax exemptions from the government. 

That's according to a bill filed by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur Representative Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo.

Giving taxpayers additional exemptions, equivalent to P25,000 for each elderly parent, would allow them to save money that can be used to meet the nutrition, education, medicine, and other basic needs of their other dependents, the Arroyos said. 

“Many family members today face economic difficulties due to the high cost of living. In some instances, it is common to find households where both spouses work to support their children and provide care for their aging parents,” Mrs. Arroyo said in her House Bill 6489.

The younger Arroyo for his part noted the Filipinos’ devotion to family ties. 

Married children take care of their parents by supporting them during their twilight years as an act of gratitude for all their pains and sacrifices according to him, he added.

“Thus, it is not surprising to see family members who provide their aging parents a wide array of assistance from medications, adult healthcare and in some cases, medical procedures. And since family is the backbone of the long-term health care system in the Philippines, children always make sure that care for older persons is left in the hands of family members,” he said.

Under their bill, the Arroyos sought the amendment of Paragraph (B) of Section 35 of RA 8424 or the National Internal Revenue Code so that “additional exemption of P25,000.00 for each elderly parent shall likewise be allowed to the individual taxpayers. Provided, that the elderly parent is chiefly dependent on and living with the taxpayer.”

The amended subsection also defines dependent as “a legitimate, illegitimate or legally adopted child chiefly dependent upon living with the taxpayer if such dependent is not more than 21 years of age, unmarried and not gainfully employed or an elderly parent who is at least 60 years old with no means of support or if such dependent, regardless of age, is incapable of self-support because of mental or physical defect.”

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