BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR-CAR) urged individuals who have not settled their inheritance or estate taxes to avail of the existing amnesty offered by the government to be able to settle their obligations with the government.
BIR-CAR Regional Director Douglas Rufino stated that individuals that have not yet paid their inheritance or estate taxes are given until June 23, 2021 to settle the same without any surcharge and penalty to help in generating taxes that will sustain the operation of the government admits the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Under the law, the inheritance or estate tax is the tax imposed by the government on those who are bequeathed or receive assets from the estate of a deceased person and that the same depends on the state of residence, the value of the inheritance and the beneficiary’s relationship to the decedent.
Rufino disclosed that prior to the ongoing amnesty, the BIR imposes 25 percent surcharge and 20 percent per annum penalty on the computed estate tax for those who were not able to settle their obligations with the government on time.
The BIR-CAR official explained that for those availing of the amnesty on inheritance or estate tax, it will be the old rate that will be computed where the computed tax will be dependent on the graduated values while those settling their estate taxes will believed a 6 percent tax based on the computed estate of the deceased.
Further, he added that beneficiaries of the estate of deceased person are given a maximum of 6 months from the death of a person for them to settle the estate taxes of the deceased to prevent the imposition of surcharges and penalties.
According to him, the BIR-CAR remains to be considerate to the concerns of the taxpayers, provided that, taxpayers will be able to timely settle their obligations with the government as taxes are the lifeblood of the government to be able to implement the identified priority development projects, enhance the delivery of basic services and cater to the needs of the people that have been heavily impacted by the ongoing pandemic.
Rufino emphasized that individuals that have not yet settled the estate taxes of their family members or relatives must start working on the settlement of the same as there is already less than 2 months for them to be able to avail of the ongoing amnesty or else they will be imposed the appropriate surcharges and penalties for their unpaid obligations.
He asserted that the immediate settlement of the unpaid estate taxes of deceased persons by their family members or relatives will definitely contribute in the ongoing efforts of the government to generate resources that will be used by the government to effectively and efficiently address the current need of the prevailing difficult times that is why it is best for people to start settling their tax obligations with the agency the soonest to avoid unnecessary inconveniences in the future.
Rufino expressed optimism that the agency will be able to continue increasing the collection of taxes from the taxpayers even with the prevailing difficult times so that there will be available resources that will be used by the government in attending to the needs of the situation. By HENT
