BIR to employees: Use new withholding tax table now
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reminded employers to start implementing the new Withholding tax table as provided under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law this January.
According to BIR, there is no reason for the new tax table not to be implemented this month because a Memorandum circular has already been released on December. The bureau would let employers who would not be able to implement this but mandated them to give back excessive
BIR Spokesperson Marissa Cabreros said on Friday that companies should have already started implementing and if ever there are difficulties in the execution, they should expound to their employees and recomputed the new tax applicable to them. Employees shall also feel the adjustment in their next salaries.
Employees whose earnings won’t exceed to P685 per day or P20,833 per month will be exempted from withholding tax this 2018, according to the memorandum on revised withholding tax table.
BIR also standardized the withholding tax to apply the exemptions for all, whether an employee does have dependents or not.
Tax computation for workers in other salary brackets is available at the Official Department of Finance Tax Calculator, http://www.taxcalculator.ph.
TRAIN also reduces the tax for self-employed workers. From 10 to 15 percent, it slides down to eight percent.
Taxpayers with dependents, however, are no longer exempted from tax.
Although reformed tax law would abolish income taxes for many employees, it would impose higher taxes on fuel, cars, sugar, and tobacco.