BUWIS SERYE #1: SINGLE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL JAL

Jose Anton Luna, or JAL to friends, is a 23-year old employee in a telco company.  After finishing a management course in college 2 years ago, he started working with the company as a Financial Analyst.  He is single and lives with his parents in Bulacan, where he commutes daily to and from work. 

He loves going out with friends from time to time but, is also a prudent in spending his hard-earned money.  He wants to save and invest some of it in mutual funds but, is finding it hard.  His net take-home pay is barely enough for his daily food and transportation costs. He also gives part of it to his mom to contribute to expenses at home.

His current fixed monthly basic salary is P17,500 and with this, he earns an annual income of P295,000, broken down as follows:

Annual salary     P210,000

Bonuses                 35,000

Overtime pay          50,000

Total                   P295,000

He has read about the proposed tax reforms in Congress and wondered to himself –

“How will the proposed updating of tax brackets to inflation impact his net take home pay?”

So, he decided to use his financial analytical skills to find out.  This is what he came up with:

He calculated his tax and noted that he is taxed at the 4^th bracket level with an effective tax rate (ETR) of 19%.  That is quite high for a young working professional like him! He knows that, in Singapore, the highest tax rate is just 17%.

Since the tax brackets are not adjusted to inflation, he worked back his pay to 1997 level and was shocked to find out that he should have been taxed only at the 3^rd bracket level with an ETR of 14%!  Applying the same level with adjusted bracket values to his current pay, he calculated that he is overtaxed by 5% or by P10,050 annually!

Wow! He could have already invested that amount in mutual funds!  Since he has been working for 2 years now, that would have been easily P20,100 in savings plus interest.  

With this, he realized the importance of the tax reform issue and decided to support the #TaxReformNow cause.  Last October 30, 2015, he joined the #BlackPaydayFriday protest by wearing black at work and posting a picture of himself in his Instagram account. He really would like to see Congress, coming back from its recess, to #PassTaxReformNow.  

Now he eagerly waits for Congress leaders to talk with the President on Monday, October 9, to finally convince him to change his mind in supporting tax reform, even just the proposed updating of tax brackets to inflation. He does not see any reason why such a measure should not be passed. It is but right to correct what is inherently wrong and unjust in the tax system for the past 19 years. What further study does the DOF need to fully understand that?

And if the Government fails to do something about it in this term, he knows as a duly-registered voter, who even took a day off his work for COMELEC biometrics,  that this will be an important election issue for him come 2016.

Papakinggan na kaya ng Gobyerno ang hinaing ng mga single young professionals gaya ni JAL? 

Abangan!