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It has been over six months of quarantine and the fight against this pandemic has been challenging. Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is an unusual enemy that does not allow us to fight back head-on or face-to-face. It is the type of enemy that makes us hide and stay at home if we want to win the battle. Nonetheless, I believe that resilience is inherent among us Filipinos, with all the difficulties we may have probably experienced in our lives.

If we ask taxpayers what they think about what’s next for them, we could certainly get varying responses. One would answer, “Tax deadlines, of course!” Another would say, “Tax assessments and maybe, tax reform?” One might even say, “I would rather not think about it right now; don’t spoil my December!”

In the Christian scriptures, Jesus shared this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else: “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income. But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

It always fascinates me whenever I hear my one-and-a-half-year-old daughter sings the famous children’s song “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day…” While her singing is an enchantment to my ears, it’s also sad because she cannot play outside because of the rain.

Dear Heavenly Father, We praise You, we glorify You, and we thank You for the countless blessings and guidance that You continuously provide us.

Tax reform has been in the headlines lately. After almost two decades, we are about to see more concrete action towards the much-awaited comprehensive reform of the 1997 National Internal Revenue Code.

A lot has been going on with respect to tax reform. Some tax rates are proposed for adjustment, while some tax exemptions face removal, among other expected changes.

One week from now, we commemorate All Souls Day. Many of us will visit the cemetery to remember departed loved ones. For some, this occasion is a reminder that, after all the toils and struggles in life, our physical bodies will be laid to rest in the same place. Then, what happens? Aside from the spiritual and religious aspects of death, there is another aspect which we might not be able to avoid -- tax. In particular, upon death, our estate could be subject to estate tax. Others call it the death tax. Is this applicable only to rich people?