Documentary Stamp Tax on a Deed of Sale of Real Property: Rate and Filing

Documentary stamp tax (DST) on a deed of sale or conveyance of real property is ₱15.00 for every ₱1,000, or 1.5%, of whichever is higher between the stated consideration and the property’s fair market value — a separate tax from capital gains tax, imposed under Section 196 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) and filed on BIR Form 2000-OT within five days after the month the deed was notarized.

The legal basis and current rate #

Section 196 of the NIRC taxes every deed, instrument, or writing that grants, assigns, transfers, or otherwise conveys real property in exchange for consideration, at ₱15.00 per ₱1,000 of the tax base. The provision has stayed at this rate through the TRAIN Law’s 2018 documentary stamp tax overhaul (Republic Act No. 10963, implemented by Revenue Regulations No. 4-2018) — unlike the DST on loan agreements or share issuances, which TRAIN increased, Section 196’s real-property rate was already ₱15.00 per ₱1,000 and was carried forward unchanged. The operative text of the section reads:

“On all conveyances, deeds, instruments, or writings, other than grants, patents or original certificates of adjudication issued by the Government, whereby any land, tenement, or other realty sold shall be granted, assigned, transferred or otherwise conveyed to the purchaser, or purchasers, or to any other person or persons designated by such purchaser or purchasers, there shall be collected a documentary stamp tax, at the rates herein below prescribed, based on the consideration contracted to be paid for such realty or on its fair market value determined in accordance with Section 6(E) of this Code, whichever is higher.”

Section 196 exempts one narrow category by its own terms: grants, patents, or original certificates of adjudication issued directly by the government — meaning the tax targets sales between private parties, not the government’s original transfer of land title.

The tax base: consideration or fair market value, whichever is higher #

The DST base is not simply the price written on the deed — it is whichever is higher between that stated consideration and the property’s fair market value, the same “whichever is higher” rule used for capital gains tax. Fair market value for this purpose follows Section 6(E) of the NIRC, which in practice means the BIR zonal value for the property’s location and classification, or the assessed value shown on the local tax declaration, whichever of those two figures is itself higher. A seller cannot reduce DST by writing a below-market price into the deed — the BIR computes the tax on the higher figure regardless of what the parties agreed to pay.

Worked example #

A residential lot in a Metro Manila suburb is sold under a deed of sale for a stated price of ₱3,000,000. The BIR zonal value for that lot’s classification and location is ₱3,500,000.

Because the zonal value exceeds the price the parties actually agreed to, the ₱3,000,000 consideration is irrelevant to the computation — the deed’s DST is assessed on the ₱3,500,000 zonal value. Had the stated price instead been ₱3,800,000, exceeding the zonal value, the tax base would flip to that higher consideration figure instead.

Filing: BIR Form 2000-OT, five days after month-end #

DST on a deed of sale of real property is a one-time transaction, filed on BIR Form 2000-OT rather than the recurring BIR Form 2000 used for ongoing business documents like leases. The return and payment are due within five days after the close of the month the deed was made, signed, or notarized — but no later than the date the deed is presented for registration with the Register of Deeds, if that comes sooner. A deed notarized on August 20, 2026, for example, carries a DST deadline of September 5, 2026, unless the parties register the transfer with the Register of Deeds before that date.

Liability under Section 173 of the NIRC attaches to any party who makes, signs, issues, accepts, or transfers the document, so either buyer or seller can be assessed if the return goes unfiled. In practice, real estate deeds commonly assign DST to the buyer by contract, alongside transfer taxes owed to the local government, while capital gains tax is conventionally shouldered by the seller — but neither allocation is fixed by the NIRC itself, and the parties are free to agree otherwise in the deed.

DST is separate from — and additional to — capital gains tax #

A sale of real property classified as a capital asset typically triggers two distinct BIR taxes on the same transaction: capital gains tax under Section 24(D) and documentary stamp tax under Section 196. Capital gains tax is a flat 6% of the higher of gross selling price, zonal value, or assessed value, filed on BIR Form 1706 within 30 days of the sale — see BIR Form 1706: How to File Capital Gains Tax on Sale of Real Property for that computation. DST is the smaller of the two at 1.5%, but it runs on a much tighter five-day clock and uses a different form, BIR Form 2000-OT. Both must generally be settled, along with any local transfer tax, before the BIR will release the Certificate Authorizing Registration (eCAR) that lets the Register of Deeds issue a new title in the buyer’s name. For how capital gains tax differs from the recurring, locally collected real property tax that continues after the sale, see Capital Gains Tax vs Real Property Tax.

Frequently asked questions #

What is the documentary stamp tax rate on a deed of sale of real property? #

Under Section 196 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), documentary stamp tax on a deed of sale or conveyance of real property is ₱15.00 for every ₱1,000, or a fractional part of it, of the tax base — equivalent to 1.5%.

What is the tax base for DST on a real property sale — the selling price or the zonal value? #

It is whichever is higher between the consideration contracted to be paid for the property (the selling price stated in the deed) and its fair market value, meaning the BIR zonal value or the assessed value on the tax declaration, whichever of those two is itself higher. The seller cannot understate the tax base by pricing the deed below the property’s zonal or assessed value.

Which BIR form is used to file documentary stamp tax on a deed of sale of real property? #

BIR Form 2000-OT, the Documentary Stamp Tax Declaration/Return for one-time transactions, is used for DST on the sale or transfer of real property. This is distinct from BIR Form 2000, which covers recurring DST-taxable transactions such as loan agreements and leases.

When is the deadline to pay documentary stamp tax on a deed of sale of real property? #

DST is due within five days after the close of the month in which the deed of sale was made, signed, or notarized, but not later than the date the document is presented for registration with the Register of Deeds — whichever comes first. A deed notarized on August 20 carries a DST deadline of September 5, unless registration happens sooner.

Is documentary stamp tax the same as capital gains tax on a real property sale? #

No. They are two separate taxes on the same transaction. Capital gains tax under Section 24(D) of the NIRC is a flat 6% on the sale of a capital asset, filed on BIR Form 1706 within 30 days of the sale. Documentary stamp tax under Section 196 is 1.5% on the deed itself, filed on BIR Form 2000-OT within five days after month-end. Both are normally required before the BIR issues a Certificate Authorizing Registration (eCAR) for the transfer.

Who is responsible for paying the documentary stamp tax — the buyer or the seller? #

The NIRC makes any party to the taxable document liable, and in real estate practice the deed of sale itself, or a separate agreement between buyer and seller, typically assigns who shoulders it. It is common in the Philippines for the buyer to shoulder DST on a real property purchase, but this is a matter of contractual allocation, not a fixed statutory rule.

Summary #

DST on a deed of sale or conveyance of real property costs ₱15.00 per ₱1,000 (1.5%) of whichever is higher between the stated consideration and the property’s fair market value, under Section 196 of the NIRC. It is filed on BIR Form 2000-OT within five days after the close of the month the deed was notarized — a much tighter deadline than the 30-day window for capital gains tax on the same sale. Treat the two as separate obligations that both typically need to clear before the BIR releases the eCAR. For the broader DST framework across other document types, see Documentary Stamp Tax: What It Is and When BIR Form 2000 Applies, and for the DST rules on debt instruments, see Documentary Stamp Tax on Loan Agreements and Promissory Notes.