But the credit for this good news for OFWs should go to where it’s due – the lawmakers and outgoing President Benigno Aquino III, who signed the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) or Republic Act No. 10863 into law on May 31.
Aside from raising the tax-free ceiling to P150,000 from P10,000, the law also increases the de minimis value to P10,000 from P10. The de minimis value is the value of the tax and duty free goods and the minimum cost needed for items to gain entry via the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
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The CMTA also allows every OFW to send as many as three P150,000-worth of balikbayan boxes, tax- and duty-free, as long as the boxes contain items that are not for sale, hire, barter, or for any other commercial purpose.
The law also gives tax exemptions to the personal and household items brought by Filipinos who stayed abroad for years when they come home to the Philippines.
Those who lived overseas for 10 years will be entitled to a P350,000-tax exemption, while those who lived abroad for a minimum of 5 years will get a P250,000-tax exemption. Filipinos who worked and lived overseas for less than 5 years will enjoy a P150,000-tax exemption.
The CMTA was approved by the House of Representatives on November 12, 2015, the Senate’s version was passed on January 18, 2016.
Senator Sonny Angara, the sponsor of the law, thanked Aquino for signing the bill into law.
In his official Facebook page, Angara wrote, “With the increase in the values, we lessen the discretion of the Customs officials to inspect goods and collect taxes, thus minimizing cases of corruption and smuggling. Huwag naman sana natin parusahan ang ating mga OFW sa pamamagitan ng pagpataw ng mataas na buwis at sa mga umano’y pangangalakal at pagnanakaw sa mga padala sa loob ng balikbayan boxes.”
The same Facebook post also gave more details about the creation of the CMTA before it was signed into law.
The CMTA authors from the Senate are “Senators Sonny Angara, Ralph Recto, [Sergio] Osmeña III, Francis “Chiz” Escudero,Miriam Defensor-Santiago, [Jinggoy] Ejercito-Estrada, Grace Poe, Bam Aquino, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Alan Peter Cayetano, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Cynthia VIllar, Koko Pimentel.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Sonny Angara and Representative Miro Quimbo.
The Technical Working Group (TWG) chairman was Representative Janette Garin.
The credit for the newly-passed tax exemptions for balikbayan boxes should go to these people and everyone else who put an effort into making this law a reality, not Duterte, who still has to be inaugurated into office this June 30.
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