Tax cut proposals Filipino workers need.

See - PNoy rejection of tax cut proposals hurts workers who help build economy - TUCP-Nagkaisa



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The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) balked at the statement of President Benigno Aquino III rejecting proposals in Congress to cut the income tax rates of workers.

“We resent President Aquino’s outright rejection of proposed legislative measures aimed at reducing the very oppressive existing income tax," TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said in a statement.

"We were expecting that he the least he would do is to revise the figure into a compromise, if not, phased tax cut. But to rather shoot down the entire measure outright, President Aquino has permanently sealed further the fate of workers in the hopeless dungeon,” he added.

The group said that the President has also turned down several proposals that would give relief to ordinary workers from the rising prices of basic goods and services, including the Security of Tenure bill and proposals to make the cost of electricity affordable to workers.

The chief executive also thumbed down a two-month unemployment insurance to help workers who lost their jobs cope while looking for employment.

“He has not provided any relief for workers who helped build a competitive economy under his administration. How unfortunate can we get from a President we thought who could give back. If this is the legacy that he intends Filipino workers remembers him by, so be it,” Tanjusay said.

As proponents of the bills to cut the income tax rate of taxpayers expressed optimism that the measure would hurdle Congress, President Aquino indicated he was closing the door to it.

He said the options offered to fill the revenue gap will hurt more people across all classes, defeating the purpose of "progressive" taxation.

For one, he said, the proposal to make up for the expected revenue loss (some estimates put this at P30 billion), by increasing the value added tax on petroleum products, will impact prices and hurt everyone.

TUCP-Nagkaisa is a huge formation of workers from both the moderate and militant sides.

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