Senior High School Department

The proposed General Tax Amnesty, which is now awaiting the signature of the
President, is no exception to this general rule. Under the proposed General Tax
Amnesty, taxpayers who want to avail of the privileges of the amnesty must truthfully
divulge very important information: their true total assets or true net worth. The General
Tax Amnesty Return that a taxpayer must file with the Bureau of Internal Revenue
should be accompanied by a notarized Statement of Total Assets (STA) or notarized
Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) as of Dec. 31, 2017.

In exchange for disclosing their true total assets or net worth, taxpayers will be allowed
to avail of the general tax amnesty program that shall cover their taxes, subject to
some exceptions, for taxable year 2017 and prior years. The General Tax Amnesty will
give taxpayers the option to choose a rate between 2% of their total assets or 5% of
their net worth.

The Bill defines total assets as the amount of the aggregate assets, whether within or
outside the Philippines, real or personal, tangible or intangible, ordinary or capital; net
worth, on the other hand, is the difference between the taxpayer’s total assets and total
liabilities. The taxpayer availing of the amnesty must admit all assets they have and all
liabilities they owe as of Dec. 31, 2017 in the STA or SALN.

As for my understanding as a student I’am actually in favor regarding on the

general tax payment new regulations, because we will be informed who would be
commiting tax evasion and corrupting the people’s money while us suffering from doing
our obligation as a taxpayer.