QC gives new tax break to seniors

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines – Senior citizens no longer have to pay transfer tax when they sell their house and lot in Quezon City to buy a new one in the country.

Mayor Herbert Bautista recently signed the ordinance exempting seniors from paying the 75 percent of the one percent selling price of the property as required by the city revenue code.

This represents new benefits for senior citizens in the city.

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To avail of the exemption, senior citizens or residents at least 60 years old must register with the city’s Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (QC OSCA) and secure a certification from their barangay captain that they have been living in the village for at least 10 years.

If the property is co-owned with a non-senior citizen, the owners would get a tax discount based on the share of the senior citizen, a staff member of Councilor Raquel Malañgen, author of the ordinance, explained.

The tax exemption could only be availed if the senior citizen acquires or constructs a new residential property 18 months after selling his old home, Coryell Palarca, a member of Malañgen’s legal staff, stressed.

If the senior citizen plans to migrate abroad, selling his property in the city would not be tax free, Palarca said.

Under the ordinance, the tax exemption can only be availed once every 10 years and the amount of the residential property should not exceed P5 million based on the zonal value or the selling price.

The ordinance was passed on third and final reading on January 26 and signed into law by the mayor on February 28.

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