24-March-2017,
01:29:54 PM [http://www.congress.gov.ph ]
The
House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a proposal to
grant amnesty in the payment of estate taxes.
House
Bill No. 4814, or “An Act Granting Amnesty in the Payment of Estate Tax,” is
expected to generate additional revenues for the government and encourage
taxpayers to settle their outstanding estate taxes, thereby freeing up
properties of unsettled estates.
The
bill, which was endorsed for plenary approval by the committee on ways and
means chaired by Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua (Lone District, Quirino), proposes a tax
amnesty program covering estate taxes for the year 2016 and the previous years
that have remained unpaid as of December 31, 2016.
House
Bill 4814 is authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (1st District, Davao del
Norte), Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas (1st District, IlocosNorte), Rep.
Arthur Defensor Jr. (3rd District, Iloilo), Deputy Speaker Romero Quimbo (2nd
District, Marikina City), Cua, Reps. Arlene Arcillas (1stDistrict, Laguna),
Rose Marie Arenas (3rd District, Pangasinan), Lianda Bolilia (4th District,
Batangas), Peter John Calderon (7th District, Cebu), Winston Castelo (2nd District,
Quezon City), Eugene Michael De Vera (Party-list, ABS), Jesulito Manalo
(Party-list, ANGKLA), Victoria Isabel Noel (Party-list, AN WARAY), Xavier Jesus
Romualdo (Lone District, Camiguin), Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado (1st District,
Bulacan), Manuel Zubiri (3rd District, Bukidnon), Marlyn Primicias-Agabas (6th
District, Pangasinan), Rodante Marcoleta (Party-list, SAGIP), Raul Del Mar (1st
District, Cebu), Leo Rafael Cueva (2ndDistrict, Negros Occidental), and
Delphine Gan Lee (Party-list, AGRI).
The
bill is one of the 186 relevant and important legislative measures passed by
the House over the past 83 session days of the 17th Congress.
The
bill grants the following immunities and privileges to taxpayers who avail of
the tax amnesty: (1) immunity from the payment of estate taxes, civil,
criminal, or administrative penalties under the National Internal Revenue Code
of 1997, as amended, arising from the failure to pay any and all estate taxes
for taxable year 2016 and prior years; (2) the taxpayer’s Estate Tax Amnesty
Returns for 2016 and prior years shall not be admissible as evidence in all
proceedings that pertain to taxable year 2016 and prior years related to estate
settlement cases before any judicial, quasi-judicial, or administrative bodies
in which the defendant or respondent, and except for the purpose of
ascertaining the gross estate for 2016 and prior years, the same shall not be
examined, inquired or looked into by any person or government office; and (3)
the books of accounts and other records of the taxpayer for the years covered
by the estate tax amnesty availed of shall not be examined.
To
avail of the benefits of the tax amnesty, the covered taxpayer shall file with
the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) an Estate Tax Amnesty Return and pay the six
percent of the decedent’s or deceased person’s net estate within two years from
the issuance of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the proposed
legislation. The IRR shall be promulgated within 30 days after the law becomes
effective.
However,
the proposed tax amnesty does not cover taxpayers with pending cases, to wit:
(1) those with pending cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG); (2) those cases involving unexplained
wealth or unlawfully acquired wealth or under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act; (3) those cases filed in court involving violation of the
Anti-Money Laundering Law; (4) those criminal cases for tax evasion and other
criminal offenses under Chapter II of Title X of the National Internal Revenue
Code of 1997, as amended, and the felonies of frauds, illegal exactions and
transactions, and malversation of public funds and property under Chapters III
and IV of Title VII of the Revised Penal Code; and (5) tax cases subject to
final and executor judgement by the courts.
The
bill imposes the following penalties: (1) a person who, having filed a
statement or Estate Tax Amnesty Return, wilfully understates the gross estate
to the extent of 30 percent or more shall be subject to the penalties of
perjury under the Revised Penal Code; (2) the willful failure to declare any
property in the statement and/or in the Estate Tax Amnesty Return shall be
deemed prima facie evidence of fraud and shall constitute a ground upon which
attachment of such property may be issued in favor of the BIR to answer for the
satisfaction of any judgment that may be acquired against the declarant; (3)
any person who unlawfully discloses the existence of an Estate Tax Amnesty
Return, or its contents, shall be penalized by a fine of not less than P150,000
and imprisonment of not less than six years but not more than 10 years.
It
further provides that if the offender is an officer or employee of the BIR or
any government entity, he shall suffer the additional penalties of perpetual
disqualification from holding public office, from exercising the right to vote
and be voted for any public elective post.
Tax
amnesty, as defined by the Supreme Court, is a “general pardon or the
intentional overlooking by the state of its authority to impose penalties on
persons otherwise guilty of violation of a tax law.”
Simply
put, taxpayers who failed to disclose their income or pay their tax liabilities
from previous years are freed by the government from any civil, criminal or
administrative penalties.
The
bill has already been transmitted to the Senate for its concurrence. / ABR
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