MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippines’ Congress is at it again. Members want to exempt Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach from paying taxes on her income as Miss Universe.  But Wurtzbach has declined, saying she will continue to pay her taxes just like she always did in the past.

This is not the first time that such a proposal has been filed in Congress. There have been several attempts to put forward a similar bill exempting Filipino champion boxer Manny Pacquiao from paying taxes.  (Incidentally, Pacquiao is facing a P3.2 billion tax evasion case before the Court of Tax Appeals. The case was filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue after assessing that Pacquiao had incurred “deficiency income and value-added tax” from 2008 to 2009, worth P2.2 billion. Penalties and surcharges caused the deficiency to balloon to P3.2 billion.)

Congress wanted to grant the tax exemptions, arguing that Wurtzbach and Pacquiao are the “pride of the Philippines, putting the country on the world map, and considering them as “heroes.”

Well, what about the true heroes of the Philippines — the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)? They are the backbone of the Philippine economy, infusing more than $26 Billion in remittances to the country annually?

Currently,  the wages or income of OFWs arising out of their overseas employment are exempt from income tax. Since OFWs usually already pay income taxes in the country they are working in, the Philippines exempts those taxable income of Filipinos through the virtue of tax reciprocity. With the tax reciprocity rule, Filipinos working abroad are taxed for incomes received there and are exempt from paying income taxes in the Philippines, in the same way that foreigners working in the Philippines are taxed here for incomes sourced within the Philippines and are also not required to pay income taxes anymore to their home country.

But now, some smart members of Congress want to lift that exemption, and the Aquino administration — especially Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares — favor the proposal.

“Sure, it would be a case of double taxation,” Henares said, “but think about the huge tax revenue that the Philippine government will earn from taxing OFW income abroad.”

It’s more fun in the Philippines!