Cebu City Council pushes scrapping of ‘regressive’ Phl estate tax

The Cebu City Council has unanimously passed a resolution supporting a House bill that seeks to abolish the estate tax in the Philippines, calling the current levy "regressive and burdensome" for grieving families.

Resolution No. 17-2053-2026, adopted during a 13 January regular session, throws the city’s weight behind House Bill No. 6553. The bill, authored by Albay Third District Representative Raymond Adrian Salceda, argues that taxing property at the time of a person's death penalizes families during their most vulnerable moments.

The council cited that many individuals dutifully pay real property taxes throughout their lives, only for their heirs to be taxed again upon their death. This system, the resolution stated, undermines the dignity of families and forces them to navigate complex bureaucracy while they are meant to be healing.

"Families are grieving. They need space to recover, not pressure to produce cash for a tax that arises only because someone passed away," Salceda said in a statement Friday.

Under the proposed legislation, the estate tax would be eliminated entirely. Instead, inherited property would only be taxed when it is eventually sold.

This would be achieved through a "deferred succession component" added to the existing capital gains tax, a move Salceda says ensures heirs have the necessary liquidity when taxes become due.

Salceda pointed out that the Bureau of Internal Revenue collects approximately P14 billion annually from estate taxes, but the economic damage far exceeds that figure.

His office estimates that delayed estate transfers cost the national economy about P78 billion every year due to idle properties, frozen titles and the inability of banks to lend against paperwork that is not in order.

"I thank the city government and the people of Cebu," Salceda said. "It is the largest economy outside Manila, and their voice matters in this growing movement."

The push for abolition follows years of similar debates over the efficiency of the tax, with proponents of the bill arguing that the revenue generated is not worth the resulting administrative and economic gridlock.