Estate tax amnesty scheme starts today

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) today starts accepting applications for the much-awaited reprieve for heirs who have yet to pay the taxes due from their deceased loved ones’ estate.

Deputy Commissioner Marissa O. Cabreros told the Inquirer that BIR frontline officers from all over the country attended briefings at the agency’s main office in Quezon City last week to prepare for today’s implementation of estate tax amnesty under Republic Act (RA) No. 11213 or the Tax Amnesty Act of 2019.

The BIR’s Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 6-2019 was published on May 31 to take effect as the estate tax amnesty’s implementing rules and regulations 15 days later.

But since the guidelines effectivity fell on a Saturday, June 15, actual implementation starts Monday, June 17.

The Department of Finance had estimated a P6.28-billion additional revenue from estate tax amnesty in its two-year implementation.

RA 11213 provided for the collection of only 6 percent of each deceased’s total net taxable estate at the time of death, for those who died on or before Dec. 31, 2017.

Under RR 6-2019, the minimum estate amnesty tax for the transfer of the estate of each decedent will be P5,000.

The program “provides the taxpayers a one-time opportunity to settle estate tax obligations through an estate tax amnesty program that will give reasonable tax relief to estates with outstanding estate tax liabilities.” —BEN O. DE VERA