MANILA — The House Committee on Ways and Means is set to deliberate on a measure seeking to recalibrate the country’s personal income tax system to provide tax relief for millions of middle-income Filipinos affected by rising inflation, committee chair and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Miro Quimbo said.

Quimbo said the panel will conduct a comprehensive review of the current personal income tax brackets, including proposals to raise the tax-exempt threshold and revisit the tax treatment of bonuses, allowances, and other mandatory deductions.

The review aims to align the tax system with prevailing economic conditions while maintaining the government’s fiscal capacity, he said.

“The current personal income tax brackets took effect in 2018. Since then, inflation has significantly eroded purchasing power,” Quimbo said.

“For a salaried worker, earning between ₱30,000 to ₱80,000 a month—the core of our urban middle class—this has meant that nominal income increases are often eaten up by higher living costs,” he added.

Quimbo said the proposed review seeks to ensure that the tax system remains equitable while supporting economic growth.

“Our task in the next year and a half is to recalibrate the system as a whole—grounded in fairness, efficiency, and credibility,” Quimbo said.

He added that the committee’s upcoming hearings will focus on middle-income taxpayers, whom he described as consistently compliant but receiving limited government support.

“The forthcoming hearings on personal income taxation will focus on the middle-income segment. They are compliant taxpayers but do not benefit from exemptions nor receive ‘ayuda’ while bearing a disproportionate share of withholding taxes,” the Marikina representative said.

According to Quimbo, the review is intended to make the tax system fairer for compliant taxpayers without adversely affecting government revenue collection.