By: Atty. Gregorio B. Austral, CPA
Senior citizens are entitled to a 20% discount
on membership and amenities in golf and country clubs
Are non-profit, stock golf and country clubs mandated to give a 20% senior citizen discount to their senior members on their monthly dues, locker rentals, and other charges pertaining to their use of the clubs’ facilities and equipment?
This was the main issue raised in the recent case of Soliman v. Santos, G.R. Nos. 202417 & 203245, July 25, 2023, penned by Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez.
But Petitioner, The Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club, Inc. (Manila Southwoods), does not think so. To support its position, Manila Southwoods cites paragraph 2, Section 4, Article 7, Rule IV, Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), Republic Act No. 9994 (RA 9994), or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, which provides that non-profit, stock golf and country clubs which are not open to the general public, and are private and for exclusive membership only as duly proven by their official Securities and Exchange n (SEC) registration papers, are not mandated to give the 20% senior citizens discount.
On the other hand, respondent Carlos T. Santos, Jr. (Santos, Jr.) believes that he and other senior members of such clubs are entitled to the 20% senior citizen discount. The senior citizens shall be entitled to the following: (a) the grant of twenty percent (20%) discount and exemption from the value-added tax (VAT), if applicable, on the sale of the following goods and services from all establishments, for the exclusive use and enjoyment or availment of senior citizens: xxx xxx xxx (7) on the utilization of services in hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants and recreation centers.
The ruled in the affirmative. The 20% senior citizen discount under Sec. 4 (a), RA 9994, expressly applies to “the sale of the [enumerated] goods and services.” The plain language of the law thus requires the sale of a good or service for the 20% discount to apply. Absent the sale of a good or a service, the 20% senior citizen discount does not apply.
The Court finds that the DSWD exceeded its delegated authority and the assailed IRR provision is an invalid administrative issuance. Sec. 4 (a) (7), RA 9994, refers to recreation centers and does not provide an exemption for non-profit, stock golf and country clubs, nor does the law otherwise authorize the DSWD or any other administrative agency to create such an exemption. Consequently, the sale of goods and services by associations or non-profit, stock golf and country clubs to their senior citizen members for a fee, exclusive of their membership dues, such as the use of golf carts and locker rentals, is subject to the 20% senior citizen discount. (Soliman v. Santos, G.R. Nos. 202417 & 203245, [July 25, 2023])