Government readies estate tax amnesty in 2018

This is in conformity with Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s earlier statement that the government is ready to implement a tax amnesty program after proving it is serious in going after tax evaders.

“We agree with him (Diokno). We haven’t discussed it yet. We think that the tax amnesty offer should be offered most likely next year,” Dominguez said.

He said the DOF would start early next year, laying out the terms for the tax amnesty program.

According to the finance chief, the estate tax amnesty program would be legislated under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), which is expected to be approved by Congress before the end of the year.

Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko, however, conceded that for other types of tax amnesty to be rolled out, the DOF would need a separate legislation from Congress.

Nevertheless, Tionko said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) may also explore other administrative means to ease the burden of taxpayers with unsettled liabilities.

“General amnesty needs legislation, but there are ways to do it administratively,” she said.

Tionko and Dominguez said some possible measures include the elimination of penalties or interest rates, after noting that some taxpayers cannot pay penalties as the interest rate can go as high as 20 percent per annum.

Meanwhile, the finance chief said the DOF is also studying other countries’ models to determine how the government can ease its own Bank Secrecy Law for cases of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.

Earlier, Diokno said the Duterte administration is ready to implement a tax amnesty program as it has proven it is capable of running after tax evaders, such as in the cases of Mighty Corp., Sunvar Realty Development Corp. and Philippine Airlines.

He said the program would help generate more funds for the government, particularly for the rehabilitation of Marawi City.