House panel endorses consolidated real estate tax amnesty bill

The House committee on ways and means has endorsed a consolidated bill that seeks to grant amnesty in the payment of estate taxes.

Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo, one of the authors of the measures that were combined, said a majority of owners who inherited property from their parents or relatives could not lease or sell these assets due to non-payment of estate taxes.

“The primary cause of the inability to settle estate taxes is due to the high rates, and secondly, the inability to cope with the penalties that have accrued. In 95 percent of the cases, the penalties are even higher than the value of the properties,” he said.

If the delinquent taxes are amnestied, the properties could be leased, sold or developed under joint ventures, and such transactions would generate taxes, he said.

The government would also earn income since amnesty applications would be asked to pay a small fee, he added.

Under the consolidated bill, the proposed amnesty would cover estate taxes for 2016 and prior years.

A taxpayer availing of the amnesty would be free from civil, criminal or administrative penalties, and would not be questioned in the future for unpaid estate taxes for the years covered.

The authors of the other bills that were consolidated include Winston Castelo of Quezon City, Arthur Defensor Jr. of Iloilo, Rosemarie Arenas of Pangasinan, Jesulito Manalo of partylist group Angkla, and Manuel Antonio Zubiri of Bukidnon.

The ways and means committee also approved two other bills that would reduce estate and donor’s tax from 20 percent to six percent.

The authors said the reduction would encourage heirs to declare the properties they have inherited and to pay the appropriate tax.

It would also entice parents to pass on their assets to their children through donation, they said.