The first $1,500 of the Chrismat bonus will be exempt from the Income Tax.
On Tuesday, the Legislative Assembly approved a transitional decree for exempting from the Income Tax the income that workers receive as aguinaldo for an amount equal to or less than $1,500.
Workers who receive a surplus to that amount as aguinaldo will pay Income Tax on the respective surplus. Exemption shall be in force since it is published in the Official Journal.
The exoneration was approved with 59 votes of New Ideas, PCN, PDC, Arena and Vamos. The request made by the Minister of Finance, Jerson Posada Molina, entered the plenary session on Tuesday.
The deputy Caleb Navarro, Deputy faction chief of New IdeasHe said this is “a boost to the family economy” in a “so significant month.” He assured that this exemption is made in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, as it is this that directs the public finances.
It’s going to be a blessing that gets him in full hands and that he can with this aguinaldo cover and have a nice Christmas, it’s time for families to meet, sometimes you make some family dinner, obviously we need to have a little more income.”
Caleb Navarro, deputy faction of New Ideas.
At the beginning of the plenary session, Congresswoman Marcela Villatoro of Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena) asked to make a permanent reform so that the tax exemption to the aguinaldo is applied without the need to approve a transitional each year. The proposal did not have votes from New Ideas. Arena had asked to exempt the Aguinaldo Income Tax for up to $2,000, which also did not have votes from New Ideas or its allies.
What the decree says
“Article 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 4, paragraph 16 of the Income Tax Act, in conjunction with article 155, paragraph 2, of the Tax Code for the current fiscal year of 2024, the income received by workers as aguinaldo under the Labour Code and the Law on the Additional Compensation in Cash respectively are declared as non-taxable income for such taxes, therefore, shall not be subject to the withholding of the said tax. Those aguinaldos exceeding the amount referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be subject to the withholding and payment of the Income Tax as appropriate by deducting the non-taxable value covered by this Article.”
This article was translated after appearing in Diario El Mundo