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Romualdez: Estate Tax Amnesty Extension Law gives Pinoys a much-needed break
Romualdez: Estate Tax Amnesty Extension Law gives Pinoys a much-needed break
At A Glance
- House Speaker Martin Romualdez says Republic Act (RA) No.11956 or the Estate Tax Amnesty Extension Law will give Filipinos a much needed opportunity to settle their estate tax obligations.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)
Republic Act (RA) No.11956 or the Estate Tax Amnesty Extension Law will give Filipinos a much needed opportunity to settle their estate tax obligations.
Thus, said House Speaker Martin Romualdez Wednesday, Aug. 9 as he noted that the measure--which lapsed into law the previous day--is expected to benefit at least one million Filipino families.
The new law grants Filipinos an extension until June 14, 2025 to fulfill their estate tax obligations after the law expired last June 14.
Romualdez said the proposed new extension would give beneficiaries enough time to avail themselves of the amnesty and lower tax rates so they could settle their estate tax obligations and use the properties and other assets they have inherited from their departed loved ones.
“Bumabawi pa lamang ang karamihan sa Covid-19 pandemic at napaso na ang amnesty deadline na isang beses nagkaroon ng ekstensiyon. Kaya kailangan ng panibagong batas dito na pakikinabangan ng maraming pamilyang Pilipino,” Romualdez, head of the 312-member House of Representatives, stressed.
(Most of us were still trying to regain their bearings from the Covid-19 pandemic when the amnesty deadline, which has been extended once, lapsed. Thus, the need for a new law that would benefit a lot of Filipino families.)
He added that target beneficiaries include legal heirs, and estate executors and administrators.
The Speaker stressed that the payment of estate taxes would not only result in additional tax revenue for the government but also in the faster distribution and use of the inherited properties.
The Leyte 1st district congressman also urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to simplify the amnesty application procedure and allow online filing, especially for heirs who are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
He said the pandemic and the economic hardships it had caused made it hard for thousands of heirs, especially those in the provinces, to take advantage of the benefits the law, RA 11213, or the Tax Amnesty Act, enacted on Feb. 14, 2019.
“They have already suffered enough because of the pandemic. Let us not make the situation more difficult for them by giving them more time to avail themselves of those benefits,” Romualdez said.