MANILA – Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara filed Senate Bill 2046 to exempt donated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and other critical and essential supplies from donor’s tax.
According to Angara, exempting these donations from taxes will help increase the supply of vaccines and other critical and essential supplies needed to fight the virus.
“The national government, local government units, and the private sector are all in the thick of preparations for the arrival of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. Many of these vaccines will be made available to the public through the generosity of donors. We want to encourage more of these donations by exempting these from the donor’s tax,” Angara said.
Under the bill, donations of drugs, vaccines, and medical supplies specifically prescribed and directly used for the treatment of COVID-19 will be exempted from donor’s tax.
Also exempted from tax are donations of capital equipment, spare parts, and raw materials needed for the production of personal protective equipment.
The bill also exempts donations of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 and approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials including raw materials needed for the production of these drugs from the tax.
Donations of equipment for waste management, including waste segregation, storage, collection, sorting treatment, and disposal services are also exempted.
The grant of donor’s tax exemptions will take effect from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2023.
All of the covered donations must be for the use of the government and private entities, not for commercial use and shall be for free distribution to or use for the containment or mitigation of COVID-19.
Said donations shall be subject to the rules of deductibility according to the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code and the applicable rules and issuances of the Bureau of Internal Revenue./PN
