Filipinos’ incomes rising but gender disparity still glaring

MANILA  -Taxpayers who file their returns online are moving up the income brackets, but online payment platform Taxumo says more needs to be done to make rising incomes inclusive.

In terms of where they are across the income brackets, the homegrown startup’s 2023 State of Online Taxation report found that women are lagging behind men, while cities outside the National Capital Region are way behind Metro Manila.

“While we remain cautiously optimistic about the continued growth of the country’s economy, we’ve observed in this latest State of Online Taxation report that much needs to be done to make sure that our economic growth is inclusive,” Taxumo chief executive EJ Arboleda said in a statement.

“We’re keen to support our government’s efforts to make sure that doing business is made easier, not just for those who have historically had privilege in society, but for all professionals and business owners,” Arboleda said.

This year’s report found that the share of the “poor” — defined as those who earn less than P9,100 in personal monthly income — in the online taxpayers population had gone down considerably, from 32.7 percent in 2022 to 26.2 percent.

At the same time, the “upper middle income” (P63,700 to P109,200 earning a month) and “high income” (P109,200 to P182,000) segments of online taxpayers grew by 3.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
There were no significant movements observed in the other income brackets.

According to Taxumo, these numbers on the socioeconomic mobility of online taxpayers may be a sign that businesses are doing better postpandemic.