Parents and legal guardians of children with disabilities or "special needs" will be entitled to tax deductions, if a bill filed by Sen. Manuel Villar becomes a law. Senate Bill No. 2624 seeks to grant the parents or legal guardians of children with special needs a tax deduction of P50,000. "Children with disabilities have personal challenges far in excess of those considered regular and healthy children. This bill seeks to ease the financial burden on families who have children with special needs," Villar said. Among the expenses that will qualify for a tax deduction are:
tuition for a private school therapy diagnostic evaluations by a medical professional tutoring transportation expenses to school or a medical facility specialized instructional materials However, the measure requires that the parent or legal guardian provides more than half of the total financial support for the child before he or she can qualify for the deduction. Under SB 2624, children with special needs are defined as those who are autistic, deaf, intellectually disabled, hearing impaired, visually impaired, speech impaired, orthopedically impaired, and emotionally disturbed, among others. Children considered mentally gifted or fast learners are not covered by the bill. Those who will qualify under the measure must likewise be legitimate, illegitimate, or legally adopted children living or dependent on their taxpayer parent or guardian. They must also not be more than 13 years of age and must be assessed by a medical professional and the Department of Education's Special Education Division in order to qualify. Villar said children with learning disabilities topped the list of special needs children enrolled in public elementary schools in 2009. He said a total of 51,296 children were assessed as learning disabled, while the number of intellectually disabled children stood at 13,119. Children with hearing impairment ranked third with 12,039. From 2007 to 2008, Villar said the number of enrolled children with special needs in public and private elementary schools stood at 92,429, a 27.6-percent increase compared to school year 2004-2005. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMANews.TV 
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