While final details of the general tax amnesty eyed for enactment this year are still being ironed out, the Department of Finance (DOF) disclosed that the measure will likely cover taxable years 2007 to 2024, resuming from the last time a similar law was implemented, which raked in billions of pesos in tax collections.

During the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing at the Senate finance committee on Monday, Sept. 1, Finance Undersecretary Charlito Martin R. Mendoza told senators that the proposed tax amnesty will cover all internal revenue taxes spanning from 2024 to as far back as 2007.

Mendoza, who oversees the operations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), told reporters that additional collections from the proposed general tax amnesty could “possibly” be higher than the contribution generated in 2007.

However, Mendoza explained that exact figures regarding collection projections are yet to be finalized. According to him, this measure would encourage voluntary compliance instead of having to pursue it through enforcement.

Meanwhile, DOF Undersecretary Karlo Fermin S. Adriano, who oversees the fiscal policy and monitoring group, clarified that the Marcos Jr. administration will not introduce new tax measures in 2026, except for the pending excise tax on single-use plastics.

This was Adriano’s response when asked whether the government will impose new taxes next year.

“No new taxes except for those remaining in the LEDAC [Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council]—the single-use plastic,” Adriano said.

Mendoza noted that while clear revenue collection targets for the planned tax amnesty are still unavailable, it would “possibly” cover taxes handled by the country’s main tax agencies—the BIR and the BOC.

It can be noted that the upcoming amnesty measure is different from the bill previously passed by Congress but later vetoed by former President Rodrigo Duterte, as per Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, who had indicated that this would be a “simple” general tax amnesty bill.

To recall, the Institute for Risk and Strategic Studies Inc. (Salceda Research) had noted that the last general tax amnesty was in 2007, through Republic Act (RA) No. 9480, under former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to Salceda Research, the general tax amnesty implemented 18 years ago generated around ₱5.9 billion in taxes, or about 0.6 percent of total tax collections that year.