By Jun Ramirez The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has amended its regulations covering the collection of donor's tax to facilitate the transfer of property from the donor to recipient. BIR (Manila Bulletin File Photo) In issuing Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 17-2018, the BIR stated that the valuation of the gift shall follow the rules of Section 13, instead of Section 6 of RR 12-2018 which concerned the payment of estate tax. The rate of the donor's tax is 6 percent plus 1.5 documentary stamp tax computed on the basis of the total gifts with the first P250,000 tax exempt. The lower tax rate applies to donations made on or after January 1, 2018 when Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law took effect. Donation, prior to the TRAIN, is subject to the higher graduated schedule of up to 14 percent under Section 92 of the Tax Code. There is no itemized deduction in the payment of the donor's tax unlike in the estate tax where the heirs of the dead have the option to use it. Section 5 of the regulations provides that the estate tax shall be based on the fair market value at the time of the decedent's death. The fair market value is determined by the BIR Commissioner, the provincial or city assessor whichever is higher. The amended regulation was signed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez on the recommendation of BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay.