Tax exemption for family homes sought

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Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has sought the passage of a measure that would exempt family homes from the payment of real property taxes.

Ejercito, in filing Senate Bill No. 1385, said that since the passage of the Family Code, there has been a dramatic drop in the value of family homes exempt from such impositions in conformity with the changing times.

But he said this kind of property tax imposes undue burdens upon the family, which is the “core unit of society.”

“It is submitted that imposing real property tax on the family home violates the Constitutional mandate that ensures the protection of the Filipino’s welfare,” Ejercito said in the explanatory note of the bill.

Thus, the bill seeks to amend the provisions on Family Home as embodied in Executive Order 209, otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines.

He said the main feature of this bill is the exemption of the family home from the payment of real property taxes.

“The purpose of the family home is to provide shelter, which is a basic family need,” he said.

The senator further said the imposition of a real property tax on the family home makes it difficult for many individuals to maintain a shelter for their families.

He said another feature of the measure is the increase in the value of each family home exempt from execution, forced sale, attachment, and from the payment of real property taxes.

Under the measure, Ejercito sought amendment of Section 157 to ensure that “the value of the home shall not exceed, at the time of its Constitution, the amount of R3 million pesos in urban areas and R2 million in rural areas, or such amount as may hereafter be fixed by law.”

Citing the same section, the lawmaker said the urban areas “are deemed to include chartered cities and municipalities whose annual income at least equals that legally required of component cities. All others are deemed rural areas.”

“This bill, if enacted, will alleviate the plight of many Filipinos who have found it almost impossible to build a home of their own,” he said.