Good news for those who have not yet settled the estate taxes of their deceased relatives. The Philippine House of Representatives has already approved the proposed law ( House Bill No. 4814) which grants amnesty for estate taxes due up to 2016 subject to a return filed by the heirs and payment of 6% of the net estate taxes within two years from the issuance of the law’s implementing rules and regulations.
For example, if you inherited land in the Philippines in 1970 but never bothered to settle the estate of your parents or grandparents, as the case may be, you can now proceed to settle the estate either by executing an Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate with the consent of all surviving heirs or filing, with the assistance of an Estate or Inheritance lawyer, a Petition for Settlement of the Intestate Estate (if without a will) or the filing of a Petition for Probate ( if with a will), preparing the estate tax return and computing the net estate and the corresponding tax , then pay the 6% of the net estate to the Bureau of Internal Revenue within the time prescribed under the law to avail of the amnesty. Without the amnesty, estate taxes between 1970 to 2016 have to be paid including corresponding penalties and surcharges, which in most cases would be prohibitive and has discouraged heirs from settling the estates of their forebears several generations back.
The bill is now under consideration by the Senate of the Philippines.
