SENATOR Erwin Tulfo on Thursday sought for a one-month tax holiday for Filipino workers amid the ongoing controversy over the multi-billion-peso ghost infrastructure projects.
Tulfo filed Senate Bill No. 1446, or the “One-Month Tax Holiday of 2025,” which aims to provide what he described as a “fair, extraordinary, and immediate form of relief” to return benefits directly to the people, especially the working class.
“The exposure of alleged anomalies in flood control projects involving billions in public funds has gravely eroded public trust in government fiscal stewardship,” Tulfo said.
“The Filipino people have raised a clear and resounding clamor—‘Ibalik ang pera ng bayan. Ibaba ang tax.’”
He added, “The welfare of the people is the supreme law. It is therefore just and necessary that the State respond by providing tangible relief to the very taxpayers who sustain it.”
Under the proposed measure, the one-time, one-month income tax exemption will apply to individual taxpayers receiving compensation income during the first payroll month immediately following the bill’s approval.
For mixed-income earners, only the compensation portion will be tax-exempt.
The bill specifies that the tax holiday will not cover mandatory contributions to the GSIS, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, or loan payments authorized by employees. It also includes a non-diminution clause to ensure employers cannot reduce employee wages during the tax holiday period.
