How it plays out for one employee
Paulo, an engineering manager at a telco in Taguig, earns ₱100,000 a month. His December payslip shows the ₱100,000 13th month and a tax line that's larger than usual.
Payroll treated ₱90,000 as exempt and added ₱10,000 to his taxable compensation. His regular taxable pay is about ₱1,146,600 for the year (after his capped SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG), deep in the 25% bracket, so the excess costs ₱2,500. His actual 13th month “net” is ₱97,500. His colleague who joined on 1 April gets 9 × ₱100,000 ÷ 12 = ₱75,000 — entirely tax-free.
What a higher ceiling would mean
The ₱90,000 ceiling has been unchanged since TRAIN took effect in 2018. A House bill filed in February 2026 (HB 7661) proposes raising it to ₱150,000; as of November 2026 it had not been passed. If it ever becomes law, a ₱100,000 13th month would be fully exempt and Paulo would keep the ₱2,500.
Until then, the practical moves are modest: there's no legal way to “split” the 13th month to avoid the cap, and the ceiling is per year, not per payout.