Estate Tax Amnesty Extension bill to benefit over 900,000 families, says solon

The plenary hall of the House of Representatives. (INQUIRER.net file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The Estate Tax Amnesty Extension bill, which has lapsed into law will greatly complement the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said.

“Estate Tax Amnesty Extension is now law, as RA 11956. Palace informed my office this afternoon. I thank President Marcos and I congratulate Speaker Romualdez, the leading driver of this measure, for another accomplishment,” Salceda said in a statement.

“It will benefit some 920,000 Filipino families who have unsettled estates, many of whom include the 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries recently released from debt by President Marcos’s New Agrarian Emancipation Act,” he added.

R.A. No. 11956 will amend the R.A. No. 11569 — which was also an amendment to the mother law or R.A. No. 11213.  R.A. No. 11569, signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte, set the estate tax amnesty deadline to June 15, 2023.

R.A. No. 11569 was enacted in a bid to enhance revenue collection by granting amnesty on unpaid internal revenue taxes imposed by the national government, for the taxable year 2017 and prior years.

This means that the estate of descendants who died on or before December 31, 2017 —  with or without assessments duly issued thereof, and whose estate taxes remained unpaid or have accrued as of the same date — were covered.

However, delays brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic also hampered the processing of estate taxes as different lockdowns and restrictions were placed in several areas since the law was signed.

But with R.A. No 11956 lapsing into law, heirs of individuals whose estate taxes remain unpaid as of December 31, 2021, will have the chance to settle it until June 2025. (With reports from Juan Miguel Talens, trainee)

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