Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The move to extend the estate tax amnesty to 2025 is headed for approval at the House of Representatives, unless some hitches crop up.
House Bill No.7909, which seeks to extend the estate tax amnesty period up to June 14, 2025, was passed on second reading on May 9, 2023, and may likely hurdle third and final reading next week.
The proponents of the measure and its supporters deserve kudos for painstakingly pushing for this extension that is certain to provide relief for estate beneficiaries who are still reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We look forward to the support of the entire Congress.
As House Senior Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto once said in support of the measure, the extension is an “act of kindness” to senior citizens whose vulnerability during the 30 months the pandemic raged prevented them from availing themselves of the amnesty originally provided for under Republic Act (RA) No.11213, the Tax Amnesty Act of 2019.
RA No. 11213 provides taxpayers immunity from payment of estate taxes as well as any increments and additions thereto, and civil, criminal, and administrative cases and penalties under the 1997 Tax Code. The law, enacted on Feb. 14, 2019, covers the estates of decedents who died on or before Dec. 31, 2017, with or without assessments duly issued before, and whose estate taxes have remained unpaid or have accrued as of Dec. 31, 2017.
The deadline for the availment of the amnesty under this law was June 15, 2021. But in the 18th Congress, RA No. 11569 was enacted, amending RA No. 11213 to extend the availment period of the estate tax amnesty to June 14, 2023.
The current measure, House Bill No.7909, is an improved version of the estate tax amnesty law as it covers deaths which occurred on or before Dec. 31, 2021, amending the cut-off period of Dec. 31, 2017 in RA No.11213. Thus, it covers deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic and earlier.
With just a couple of weeks left before the deadline lapses, we express hope Congress acts quickly to pass the measure as we look forward to President Marcos’ signing of the bill into law.
Since most of the authors of the bill are allies of President Marcos — House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez, Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe, Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos, Committee on Accounts Chairperson and Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, and Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre — we are optimistic that the estate tax amnesty period will be extended.
Extending the amnesty period will show all and sundry the government’s compassion and kindness at a time when the economy is still recovering and everyone is still trying to recover from the pandemic’s devastation.
“If the government had extended ‘lifelines, bailouts in the billions’ to distressed commercial firms during the pandemic, then why should not the same compassion be extended to families, more so that it won’t cost the government anything?” Recto asked while pushing for the approval of the amnesty extension. Recto said people will “save billions, while the government will earn billions” by simply moving the June 14, 2023 deadline to June 14, 2025.
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
