Last Updated on February 4, 2018 by Marie Bautista
The TAX REFORM ACCELERATION AND INCLUSION (TRAIN) repealed the Personal and Additional Exemptions. Personal and Additional Exemptions on this post are applicable for taxable year 2017 and below. Read about TRAIN #TaxReformNow here.
WHAT DOES “PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS” MEAN?
(Part IV, Items 45 and 46 of BIR Form (1701)
- Personal exemption of P50,000 for :
- single/widow/widower individual or married individual judicially decreed as legally separated with no qualified dependent
- head of family
- for each married individual
2. Additional exemption of P25,000 for each dependent child (not exceeding four)
*In the case of :
- married individuals ONLY ONE of the spouses can claim the additional exemptions.
legally separated spouses, the additional exemption shall be allowed to the spouse who has legal custody of the child or children
WHO IS A DEPENDENT CHILD?
A dependent child is a:
- legitimate, illegitimate or legally adopted,
- living with you,
- dependent upon you for chief support,
- not more than 21 years of age,
- unmarried, and
- not gainfully employed.
* If your child is incapable of self-support because of mental or physical defect, you can still claim him as a dependent REGARDLESS OF AGE
WHICH SPOUSE CAN CLAIM THE ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION?
The husband has the right to claim the additional exemption for your dependent children.
These are the following cases wherein the wife can claim the additional exemptions:
- When the husband is unemployed,
- When the husband is a non-resident citizen deriving income from abroad, and
- When the husband waives his right to claim the dependents as his exemption in a sworn statement. Take note that the waiver should be for all children.
I AM LEGALLY SEPARATED. CAN I CLAIM THE ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN?
If you are legally separated, you can claim your children as your additional exemption provided you have been awarded custody of your children.
I CHANGED STATUS DURING THE YEAR. WHAT ARE THE RULES ON CHANGE OF STATUS IN RELATION TO EXEMPTIONS?
The rules on change of status are:
- If the taxpayer should have additional dependent during the taxable year, the taxpayer may claim the corresponding additional exemption in full for such year. For example, if your wife gave birth on December 31, 2014, you can claim an additional exemption of P25,000 for your newborn in full for such year.
- If the taxpayer dies during the taxable year, his estate may still claim the personal and additional exemptions for himself and his dependents as if he died in the close of such year.
- If any dependent dies, marries, become 21 years old or becomes gainfully employed during the taxable year, the taxpayer may still claim the same exemptions, as if the dependent died, married, became 21 years old or became gainfully employed at the close of such year.
MY 18-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER DOES NOT LIVE WITH ME INASMUCH AS SHE IS IN THE UNIVERSITY STUDYING? CAN I STILL CLAIM HER AS A DEPENDENT?
MY 18-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IS WORKING PART-TIME IN THE UNIVERSITY AS A LIBRARY ASSISTANT. DOES THIS MEAN SHE IS NOT DEPENDENT UPON ME FOR CHIEF SUPPORT?

is this the latest or recently revised tax exemption by the BIR? i'm doing a report about Personal and Additional Exemptions of Individual Income Tax and i hope this one's the latest and I hope I could get immediate reply too. haha Thank you!
Yes it is. It has not been revised yet.
and i will share the latest if meron. cuz i work there hehe
Hi! My husband died 5 years ago. What should be my tax status by now?
widow with a personal deduction of P50,000 and if you have children below 21 years of age, 25000 each not to exceed 4
Helo mam, gud evening..
I just wanna ask lang po sana..i am employed po as a nursing aid dito sa isang private hospiyal sa southern leyte po.maliit lang po sahod namin, less than 10k lang po.mag aaply sana kasi ako ng tourisy visa, kaso my requirements po kasi na ITR..kaso sa payroll ko po, wala pong bawas sa tax ko..sa sss, pag ibig at philhealth, meron naman..single mom po ako at my isang 7years old na anak.
Tanung ko lang po sana, exempted po ba ako sa pagbabayad ng tax?or kung exemp po mam, pwede po ba akong magpatatak sa BIR office?
I need ur reply po mam..
Salamat po..
you are exempt kasi malamang pasok ka as minimum wage earner. pero pwede ka naman magfile for purposes of promotions, loans, scholarship, foreign travel requirements,
If i am a single mom and got married (not to the biological father of mychild) can my spouse claim tax exemption for my child?
A dependent child is a:
legitimate, illegitimate or legally adopted,
living with you,
dependent upon you for chief support,
not more than 21 years of age,
unmarried, and
not gainfully employed.I guess your spouse has to legally adopt your child to have him/her as a dependent
How do i add my husband as dependent? He is unemployed. What are the requirements?
No, you cannot include your husband as dependent.
What if a child turned 21 on December 2016, Can i not claimed for that child who is still 21 the following year i.e. January-November2017? Thank you.
Pareho po kaming employed ng husband ko. Kapapanganak ko lang po sa aming 5th baby. Kanino po magiging dependent c 5th baby, since deceased na po ung 4th child namin?
Husband gets to claim the additional exemptions, unless he fills up a waiver of his right to claim exemptions and ikaw ang magkeclaim.
if the wife gets employed in the middle of the year and agreed with her husband that husband will waive his claim for additional exemption, how will the computation be for the husband’s tax by year end? Will his year end tax be computed as a Married status only with 50,000 personal exemptions only?
Good day! My husband is a freelance skilled worker, may sahod lang siya pag may output tapos walang deductions. We’ve already agreed na ako ang magki-claim ng exemptions and he already signed a waiver. Nung filing ng ITR sa work ko since March, 2016, ni-i-include ko ‘yung waiver, pinirmahan pa nga nung Chief Accountant namin pero until now, wala pagbabago sa nababawas na tax sa akin, di pa rin nag-a-appear na ako ang nagki-claim ng tax exemptions. Ang question ko ay, si company ko ba ang dapat mag follow-up ng pag-update ng tax info ko o ako? Wala naman kasi sila binanggit sa akin na dapat kong gawin. Thank you!
Hi we are not married and has one child. He was born jan 2017 but filed as dependent last oct 2017. I don’t have work as of the moment. Will my partner be able to get the full tax refund?
Hi is it possible for you to help me? I gave birth last july 10 2017 and i passed all the requirements needed to update my tax status last december 29 yet my employer needs a proof that even if i gave birth on december 31st 2017, i can still claim the additional 25k exemption. I filed for a change in tax status last december and they have a deadline of january 10, they needed a proof that I can still claim the additional 25,000 exemption for the last taxable year.
Section 35(C) of the National Internal Revenue Code states:”(C) Change of Status. – If the taxpayer marries or should have additional dependent(s) as defined above during the taxable year, the taxpayer may claim the corresponding additional exemption, as the case may be, in full for such year.”
Good day po ask ko lang po sept 2012 namatay husband ko po… My tax refund daw po yung husband ko dati siyang government employee pwde ko po makuha kahit 5yrs na nakalipas? Thank you po sana masagot nyo po tanong ko… Salamat..
Good day. I have a daughter who turned 22 last Sept 2017. She is a full time student & will be graduating in 2019. She solely depends on me for financial support. Can I still include her as my dependent for 2017 income tax purposes?
You can still claim her as dependent
Hi Marie! Thank you very much for the quick response. You have been a great help! Greatly appreciate it…
God bless!
Good day po. I gave birth to my third child last October 24, 2017 and filed her as a dependent last January 2018 ( my husband previously signed a waiver that I can claim the children as dependents). Can I still get a tax refund?
If hindi nahabol sa update (companies are supposed to do the annual alphalist and make all employees’ tax due equal to tax withheld, kaya if sobra, idadagdag sa swldo and if kulang, idededuct), you can still claim naman your refund by filing the annual income tax return.
I have not been employed for several years now, it is only my husband who is employed. Should I still file an income tax return each year?