Gatchalian questions repeated extensions of estate tax amnesty

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian on Friday raised concerns over the repeated extensions of estate tax amnesty programs, particularly the underlying reasons for the recurring need for such measures.

Gatchalian made the remarks during a Senate panel hearing on another proposed extension of the estate tax amnesty program, this time until 2028.

READ: Estate tax amnesty extension to 2028 pushed in Senate anew

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“Generally I am in support of amnesties … However, Mr. Chairman, we have to study very carefully—how come we have a regular amnesty?” said Gatchalian.

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“Amnesty normally is once in a blue moon, but with the estate tax since 2019 we have three amnesties already … and that is the bone of contention right now. How come a few of our constituents or a number of our constituents cannot still avail of the amnesty?” he added.

According to Gatchalian, there have already been three amnesties since 2019, with the most recent yielding the biggest collection yet at P7.93 billion.

Due to this, Gatchalian wondered if it is precisely due to the common implementation of the amnesty why so many Filipinos fail to avail of it.

“So iniisip ko dahil nababalitaan na may amnesty hindi na sila nagbabayad kasi nagiging regular na amnesty natin eh,” said Gatchalian.

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(So, I suspect that because there’s talk of an amnesty, people have stopped paying. After all, these amnesties have practically become a regular occurrence.)

“So baka after nito magpa-pass tayo ng amnesty law; after a few years hindi naman sila magbabayad dahil alam nila magkakaroon na naman ng amnesty,” he added.

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(So, perhaps after this, we might pass an amnesty law; but then, a few years later, they won’t pay, because they know there will just be another amnesty.)

However, Gatchalian also raised concerns over the process of availing an amnesty, as it may be too complicated or cumbersome.

He also proposed that it may be time to study the estate tax amnesty rate of 6 percent.

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“Is it still too expensive for our constituents? Especially our less fortunate constituents? … so baka may mga ganoong issue na we have to look deeper into (So there might be issues like that which we need to look into more deeply),” he said. /jpv