The state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is dangling tax-exemption among donors to six programs under the 2022 national priority plan (NPP).
The 2022 NPP released by Neda last week listed down three Department of Science and Technology (DOST) programs, two Department of Agriculture (DA) programs and one Department of Education (DepEd) program.
The DOST programs were the Food and Nutrition Research Institute’s (FNRI) malnutrition reduction program; the Philippine Science High School system’s research and development science laboratories; and the Science and Technology Information Institute’s science and technology academic and research-based openly operated kiosk (Starbooks).
The DA’s programs included in this year’s NPP were its ongoing, eight-year philippine rural development project, as well as the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s soil rejuvenation and fertilization of sugarcane farms with low productivity program.
The lone DepEd program in the 2022 NPP was the adopt-a-school program.
This year’s list was shorter than the total of eight programs included in the 2021 NPP. The Neda in August of last year added four DA projects to the initial four identified as part of last year’s NPP.
A Neda circular in 2009 allowed its director general to add priority programs, activities and projects to the annual NPP “at any time during the taxable year.”
Each year, the government sought donations from the private sector for the NPP so that it can reallocate public resources into other developmental projects.
Under the Tax Code, any program, project and activity identified in the NPP granted corporate or individual donors with full deduction of the monetary donation from taxable income during the year when these donations were made.
Donors can then claim tax deductions when they file their annual income tax returns in the following year.
Neda issues a certification of inclusion in the NPP to donors so that they can avail of the tax perk.