BIR to Iggy's women: Who will pay real estate taxes?

MANILA, Philippines - The women left behind by the late Negros Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, Jr. – common-law wife Grace Ibuna and estranged wife Alicia Arroyo – may have another issue to deal with: Who will pay the late lawmaker’s estate taxes?

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares said that the agency is keeping a close watch on Arroyo’s estate as part of the regular monitoring of the tax bureau of the estate of deceased persons.

“He has estate and the (administrator of his) estate has the obligation to pay the tax,” Henares told The STAR.

Henares said that the administrator or the heirs of Iggy’s estate have 60 days from the time of his death to report the incident to the BIR and six months to pay the inheritance tax.

Furthermore, Henares said the heirs or the designated administrator of Arroyo’s estate would not be able to withdraw from the deceased lawmaker’s bank accounts without clearance from the BIR.

Arroyo died in London on Jan. 26 from a liver ailment. He left behind a trail of controversy after Ibuna refused to turn over his remains to Alicia Arroyo, the estranged wife.

Arroyo first got involved in controversy in 2003 when he claimed ownership of the “Jose Pidal” bank accounts comprising laundered contributions to the presidential campaign of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

His elder brother, former first gentleman Jose Miguel, reportedly owned the account.

It was Sen.Panfilo Lacson who exposed the existence of the suspicious account.

Henares said the agency has the capability to inquire about the late Arroyo’s properties abroad, citing the agency’s various agreements with 46 countries.

A Feb. 24 article in www.gmanews.tv said all the incomes of the estate of Arroyo go to Ibuna as supposedly stipulated in a “Declaration of Trust” he executed.

In the document, the late lawmaker supposedly placed all his assets in a “living trust” and appointed his eldest daughter Bernardina Arroyo Tantoco as “trustee, executor of his estate, and attorney-in-fact.”

At present, heirs of deceased persons need to pay a tax equivalent to five percent to 20 percent of the estate of the deceased, depending on the value of the estate. “For every P1 billion, the estate tax is P300 million,” Henares said.

Some individuals try to avoid paying estate taxes by withdrawing the accounts of the deceased persons without notifying the banks of their deaths.

The BIR is stepping up its estate tax collection efforts because of discrepancies between the number of deaths recorded in the Philippines and the number of estate tax returns filed with the agency.

Data from the National Statistics Office showed 403,191 deaths in 2004, 415,271 in 2005 and 389,081 in 2006.

However, based on BIR records, only 29,198 estate tax returns were filed in 2007, 29,863 in 2008 and 26,811 in 2009.

The figures revealed a very low number of estate tax returns filed. Collections amounted to P649.9 million in 2007, P854.9 million in 2008 and P876.8 million in 2009.