FREE LEGAL SERVICES are Allowable Deduction for Lawyers
- Vibar Peña & Associates
- Sep 20, 2022
- 2 min read
Republic Act No. 9999, otherwise known as the "Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010", aimed to provide free legal assistance to the poor in accordance with the State's policy to guarantee free legal assistance to the poor and ensure that every person who cannot afford the services of a lawyer or counsel is provided with competent and independent counsel of his/ her own choice.
WHAT AMOUNT IS DEDUCTIBLE?
Under the Act, as implemented by Revenue Regulations No. 12-2022, lawyers or professional partnerships rendering actual free Legal services shall be entitled to an allowable deduction from their gross income equivalent to the lower of: a. the amount that could have been collected for the actual free Legal Services rendered: or b. 10% of the gross income derived from the actual performance of the legal profession
WHAT IS CONSIDERED AS "LEGAL SERVICES"?
"Legal Services" refer to any activity which requires the application of law, legal procedure, knowledge, training and experience which shall include, among others, legal advice and counsel, and the preparation of instruments and contracts, including appearance before the administrative and quasi-judicial offices, bodies and tribunals handling cases in court, and other similar services as may be defined by the Supreme Court.
It also refers to the appearance in court or quasi-judicial body for and on behalf of an indigent or pauper litigant and the preparation of pleadings or motions. It shall also cover assistance by the practicing lawyer to indigent or poor litigants in court-annexed mediation and in other modes of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including being appointed as counsel de officio.
MANDATORY LEGAL AID SERVICES
The actual free Legal Services shall be exclusive of the minimum sixty (60) hour mandatory legal aid services rendered to indigent litigants as required under the Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Services for Practicing Lawyers, under Bar Matter No. 2012, issued by the Supreme Court.
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