November 11th, 2021
I have been informed that House Bill No. 9913, or the income tax relief for proprietary educational institutions, has been sent to President Duterte’s desk today.
The bill, once signed into law, will reduce the income tax for proprietary schools to 1% up to June 2023, and to 10% thereafter, from the regular corporate income tax rate of 25%. This is effectively the largest tax relief the government will have given to any business sector, a testament to our constitutional commitment to education.
I thank the stakeholders who have supported me and the House leadership and the House Committee on Ways and Means, as well as the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue for cooperating with us on this initiative.
I urge President Duterte to sign the measure as soon as he is able to study the bill, and I thank him in advance for his favorable consideration of the measure.
I expect the bill to create at least 19,000 new jobs due to tax savings of the sector. In fact, the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) shows that the education sector was one of the drivers of job growth this season. I credit this in part to the complementary action of the BIR to suspend the imposition of regular corporate income tax rates on proprietary schools, in anticipation of this measure. I thank Secretary Dominguez and Commissioner Dulay for heeding our call on that matter.
I also expect private schools to reinvest savings on better student services and upgrading the quality of education. I will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that this tax relief bill benefits teachers, students, and the communities that these schools serve.
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