Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25) — The House Ways and Means Committee approved Tuesday a measure extending the period for availing of the estate tax amnesty until June 14, 2025.
House Bill 7409 authored by House leaders led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, seeks to amend Section 6 of Republic Act 11213, which set the deadline for the availment of the estate tax amnesty on June 14, 2023.
Estate tax is defined as a tax on the right of a deceased person to transmit the estate to lawful heirs and beneficiaries.
The estate tax amnesty rate is pegged at 6% of the decedent’s (the person who died) total net taxable estate at the time of death, without penalties at all the stages of the transfer of property. A minimum payment of ₱5,000 may be made if the allowable deductions applicable at the time of death exceed the value of gross estate.
The amnesty covers the estate of a decedent who died on or before December 31, 2017, with or without assessments duly issued therefore, whose estate taxes remained unpaid or have accumulated by the end of 2017.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said families are having a hard time settling estate taxes due to the economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the tax amnesty seeks to \”unlock enough value from idle and unsettled estates\” since many of them are idle or unusable as collateral because they are illiquid.
\”Now that the extended deadline June 14, 2023 is upon us, we are informed that this tax amnesty is barely touching what we are targeting. Families still struggle to comply with documentary as well as cash requirements. Hence, our leadership filed this measure to give more time to our constituents to clear their obligations,\” said Salceda.
Data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue showed that the government collected ₱7.4 billion from 133,860 taxpayers who availed of the estate tax amnesty from 2019 up to present.
In response to a query by ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Salceda clarified that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would not benefit from the estate tax amnesty.
BIR Assistant Commissioner Ma. Luisa Belen pointed out that under Republic Act No. 11213, amnesty will not extend to estate tax cases whose decisions have become final and executory.
The Supreme Court ordered the heirs of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to pay an estate tax of ₱23 billion. Their liability has reportedly ballooned to P203 billion due to penalties and surcharges.
Under RA 11213, estate tax cases which shall have become final and executory are not covered by the amnesty. The exception also applies to properties involved in cases pending in appropriate courts:
(a) Falling under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Commission on Good Government;
(b) Involving unexplained or unlawfully acquired wealth under Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Republic Act No. 7080 or An Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder;
(c) Involving violations of Republic Act No. 9160, otherwise known as the Anti-Money Laundering Act, as amended;
(d) Involving tax evasion and other criminal offenses under Chapter II of Title X of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended; and
(e) Involving felonies of frauds, illegal exactions and transactions, and malversation of public funds and property under Chapters III and IV of Title VII of the Revised Penal Code.
