OFWs exempted from paying Travel Tax, Doc Stamps, Airport Fee

James Ryan Jonas

Good news to all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)!
All OFWs are now exempted from paying documentary stamp taxes (DST) on remittances, travel tax, and airport fee as the new Migrant Workers Act or Republic Act 10022, recently lapsed into law without President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s signature.
This means the bill is now a law and would take effect immediately.
Before the amended Migrant Workers Act became a law, all money transfers from abroad, including those sent to the Philippines by OFWs were subject to a 0.15% Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) or P1.50 for every P1,000 remittance.
OFWs were also charged travel taxes and airport terminal fees when boarding flights to their destinations.
With the new law, OFWs are now exempt from paying these fees and taxes.
The doc stamps taxes (DST) for remittances are now waived, and OFWs also won’t have to pay the travel tax of P1,620 and airport fee of P750 (for international travel) and P200 (for domestic travel) anymore.
This bodes well for OFWs and their relatives because they now get to enjoy more cash due to the exemptions.

James Ryan Jonas teaches business management, investments, and entrepreneurship at the University of the Philippines (UP). He is also the Executive Director of UP Provident Fund Inc., managing and investing P3.2 Billion ($56.4 Million) worth of retirement funds on behalf of thousands of UP employees.