Recto: Signing of IRR on PWD law "strongest indicator that Palace has abandoned tax plan to revoke PWD privileges"

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto has hailed today's signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10754 "as a good gift to this sector this season."

Recto is the Senate principal author of the measure which grants tax breaks to persons with disabilities (PWDs) and their relatives who care for them.

Since the law's enactment on March 23, 2016, Recto has been persistent in prodding the agencies tasked to draft its IRR to release it.

"Sabi nga nila sa Batangas, 'Huli man daw at magaling, naihahabol din'. All's well, that ends well," he said.

The next step, he said, "is for the concerned agencies to conduct an information campaign so that both the beneficiaries and the discount-givers, like drugstores, will fully know what the law is all about so there will be no confusion or wrong interpretation of its provisions."

Because the law grants a P25,000 income tax exemption to family members who care for a PWD, the Bureau of Internal Revenue should disseminate information on how this can be availed of for taxable year 2016, Recto said.

"In effect, this law extends a helping hand to those who help PWDs," he said.

Recto said the IRR's signing should "quiet fears that tax discounts for PWDs will be scrapped under the Duterte administration's tax reform program."

"I think this IRR seals the fate of PWD discounts as a protected provision that will not be taken away. Because what is the use of granting this privilege today only to take it back tomorrow," he said.

"This is so far the strongest indicator that the administration's plan to revoke certain tax-free privileges of PWDs will no longer push through. It is a good omen," he said.