Real property valuation reform measure nears enactment

A priority bill that seeks to reform the property valuation and tax assessment in the country is awaiting President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s signature.

The Senate and House of Representatives have already ratified the bicameral conference committee report on House Bill 6558 and Senate Bill 2386, or the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (RPVARA), according to Albay Second District Representative Joey Salceda.

The measure supports the long-term revenue efforts of the government, improves real property valuation by adopting a market-based Schedule of Market Values to be used as basis of local and national real property taxation, and reorganize the Finance department’s Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), among others.

Salceda, who crafted the Lower House version, said the measure would also hasten the automation of services provided by local government units (LGUs), which in turn would enhance the efficiency of tax collection and improve the delivery of public services.

“The automation includes the creation of a Real Property Information System which will maintain an up-to-date electronic database of the sale, exchange, mortgage, lease, donation, transfer, and all other real property transactions and declarations in the country,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

The reorganized BLGF will “develop, adopt, maintain, and implement uniform valuation standards which shall be used by all appraisers and assessors in the LGUs and other concerned parties in the appraisal or valuation of lands, buildings, machinery and other real properties for taxation and other purposes.”

Real property tax includes Special Education Fund, idle land tax, and other special taxes that LGUs may levy under the Local Government Code, explained Salceda, also the House Ways and Means Committee chair.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who sponsored the RPVARA unanimously approved in the Senate on 11 March, said the measure will provide a respite in payment of real property tax because of the two-year amnesty on interests and penalties for unpaid dues.

“Waiving the payment of interests, penalties, and surcharges on unpaid or delinquent real property taxes through the amnesty component of RPVARA would encourage tax compliance later on and significantly enhance the government’s revenue-collection efforts,” said Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.