Monday, May 5, 20f 9 |
Lawmaker seeks to simpliq'
tax laws to lift bar pass rate
|.flHE lowpassing rate of bar
I examineesin the taxation
I lawsubiect ofthe 2018 bar
examinations prompted a law-
maker to seek for the simplifi-
cation of the country's tax laws.
1-CARE Party-list Rep. Carlos
Roman Uybarretasaid Congress
may have to do much more to
simplify tax law aird iirprbve the
math abilities of college gradu-
ates, commenting on the low
passing rate of bar examinees in
the taxation law subject of the
2018 bar examinations.
Uybarreta said he will con-
fer with his colleagues on the
ways and means committee and
witl top officials ofthe Depart-
ment of Financ€, Bureau of In-
ternil liivenue and the Bureau
of Customs "to figure out mole
ways to simplify our country's
tax laws" when session resumes
this month.
"If most law school students
are unable to pass the ta)ra-
tion law part of the annual bar
exams, that is a good indica-
tor that either the tax laws ale
not simple or law students are
weak in math, or both," said
Uybarreta, a member of the
Hguse Committee on Ways and
., -Means Committee:
' 'Apparently, the taxation law
exam scores were the deciding
factor for most of the bar ex-
aminees because that is what
flunkedmost of them,"he added.
Earlier, Supreme Court As-
sociate Justice Mariano del
Castillo said 18.78 percent was
the passing rate in the taxa-
tion part of the bar exams,
-. and taxation law had .the low-
est passing rate among the
various subjects.
According to the lawmaker,
a graduate of senior high school
$ t Aq(' -96"
and of college should be able to
do his or her own income tax
return without the aid of an ac-
countant or lawyer, saying this
is a key quality standard indi-
cator Congress must aim for in
tax reforms.
Uybarreta added the com-
petency standard for business .
course graduates wouldbe high-,.
er since financial matteis are
among their specialty.
"Tax reform is a delicate and
sensitive matt€r. The 17th Con-
gress was able to take the first
simplification steps with the
changes to income taxation on
compensation and mixed income
earners," he said, referringtothe
Tax Reform forAcceleration and
Inclusion Law. "In the process,
we were also able to give high-
er take-home pay net of taxes
starting with the 2018 taxable
year." lov2e Moie tl.oelo Ctu,