Philippines
The Philippines uses a progressive income tax system with six brackets, ranging from 0% on annual income up to PHP 250,000 to 35% on income above PHP 8,000,000. The TRAIN Law (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) simplified the system and reduced rates for many earners. Social security contributions include SSS (Social Security System) at 4.5% employee / 9.5% employer (on maximum salary credit of PHP 30,000), PhilHealth at 2.25% each (on maximum salary base of PHP 100,000), and Pag-IBIG (housing fund) at 1-2% each (capped at PHP 100 monthly for employee under PHP 1,500). The Philippines has a 13th month pay requirement (mandatory bonus of at least one month's salary). Tax-exempt benefits include de minimis benefits (rice subsidy, clothing allowance, medical allowance within limits). The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) provides tax incentives for companies in special economic zones. Capital gains on real property are taxed at 6%, while gains on shares are taxed at 15% (not traded) or 0.6% of selling price (stock exchange). VAT is 12%. The corporate tax rate is 25% (20% for domestic companies with net taxable income under PHP 5 million and total assets under PHP 100 million).
The Philippines reports a median salary of $3,000, among the lowest in this dataset, against a cost-of-living index of 24 that raises real purchasing power. Income tax is progressive to 35%, corporate profits are taxed at 25%, and value-added tax is 12%. Employees contribute 4.5% to social security and employers 9.5%. Priced in pesos, technology leadership reaches about $24,200 for chief technology officers and $19,250 for engineering managers. Unemployment stands at 4.3% and the Gini coefficient at 0.43, indicating wide income inequality. GDP per capita of $3,700 rises to $10,000 in purchasing-power terms. The statutory minimum wage is roughly PHP 145,000 a year. A large English-speaking workforce supports a substantial outsourcing sector that anchors much of the country's technology employment.
Median Salary
$3,000.00
Top Tax Rate
35.0%
Cost of Living
24.00
Min. Wage
₱145,000.00
Salaries by Role
| Role | Median (USD) | Net (USD) | Entry | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTO | $24,200.00 | $19,844.00 | $17,600.00 | $41,800.00 |
| Engineering Manager | $19,250.00 | $15,785.00 | $14,850.00 | $27,500.00 |
| AI/ML Researcher | $17,600.00 | $14,432.00 | $12,100.00 | $27,500.00 |
| Cloud Architect | $17,050.00 | $13,981.00 | $12,650.00 | $24,750.00 |
| Tech Lead | $17,050.00 | $13,981.00 | $12,650.00 | $24,200.00 |
| ML Engineer | $15,400.00 | $12,628.00 | $11,000.00 | $23,100.00 |
| Site Reliability Engineer | $14,850.00 | $12,177.00 | $10,450.00 | $22,000.00 |
| Product Manager | $14,300.00 | $11,726.00 | $9,900.00 | $22,000.00 |
| Security Engineer | $14,300.00 | $11,726.00 | $10,120.00 | $21,450.00 |
| Blockchain Developer | $14,300.00 | $11,726.00 | $9,900.00 | $22,000.00 |
| Data Scientist | $13,750.00 | $11,275.00 | $9,350.00 | $20,900.00 |
| DevOps Engineer | $13,750.00 | $11,275.00 | $9,680.00 | $20,900.00 |
| Software Engineer | $13,200.00 | $10,824.00 | $9,350.00 | $20,350.00 |
| Data Engineer | $13,200.00 | $10,824.00 | $9,020.00 | $20,350.00 |
| Backend Developer | $12,650.00 | $10,373.00 | $8,800.00 | $19,250.00 |
| Full Stack Developer | $12,320.00 | $10,102.00 | $8,580.00 | $18,700.00 |
| Mobile Developer | $12,100.00 | $9,922.00 | $8,250.00 | $18,480.00 |
| Frontend Developer | $11,550.00 | $9,471.00 | $7,920.00 | $17,600.00 |
| UI/UX Designer | $11,000.00 | $9,020.00 | $7,480.00 | $16,500.00 |
| QA Engineer | $9,350.00 | $7,667.00 | $6,380.00 | $13,750.00 |
Tax System
Income Tax
Progressive — up to 35.0%
Social Security (Employee)
4.5%
Corporate Tax
25.0%
VAT / GST
12.0%