Estate Tax Amnesty 2026 Status: Is It Still Available in the Philippines?
The Philippine estate tax amnesty is not available as of July 2026. The availment window created by Republic Act (RA) No. 11213 and extended twice — by RA No. 11569 and RA No. 11956 — closed on June 14, 2025 (observed June 16, 2025). Congress has not enacted a further extension; a bill to revive the program through 2028 is still pending in the Senate. Estates that missed the deadline must now file the regular estate tax return.
Compute Your Estate's Tax Exposure FREE →Is the estate tax amnesty still open in 2026? #
No. The estate tax amnesty’s final availment period, set by RA No. 11956, ran through June 14, 2025, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) treated June 16, 2025 (the next working day) as the practical cutoff for filing, approval, and payment. No subsequent law has reopened or extended that window. Estates of decedents who missed it are back under the regular National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) rules, with no amnesty-style relief from surcharges or interest.
A bill supported by the Department of Finance (DOF) — House Bill No. 6614, passed by the House of Representatives on third reading in December 2025, and its Senate counterpart, Senate Bill No. 1865 — would extend the amnesty to December 31, 2028 and expand coverage to decedents who died on or before December 31, 2024. As of the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s most recent public update in April 2026, the bill was still awaiting DOF input before further action, and it had not been signed into law. Until it is, treat the amnesty as closed.
How did the amnesty get to June 14, 2025? The RA 11213, 11569, and 11956 timeline #
The estate tax amnesty was never a permanent program — it was created with a fixed window and extended twice by name-specific laws before lapsing. Each extension pushed both the filing deadline and, in RA No. 11956’s case, the coverage cutoff for which decedents qualified.
| Law | Enacted | Availment deadline | Coverage (decedents who died) |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA No. 11213 (Tax Amnesty Act) | February 2019 | June 14, 2021 | On or before December 31, 2017 |
| RA No. 11569 | June 2021 | June 14, 2023 | On or before December 31, 2017 |
| RA No. 11956 | August 2023 | June 14, 2025 | On or before May 31, 2022 |
Under all three laws, an heir, executor, or administrator who availed within the open window paid a flat 6% estate amnesty tax on the decedent’s net estate at the time of death, with no surcharge, no interest, and no criminal exposure for the unpaid liability — regardless of how long the estate had gone unsettled. That relief only applied to filings completed inside the stated window; it did not survive the deadline automatically.
What happens now that the amnesty has lapsed? #
An estate that did not avail of the amnesty by June 16, 2025 is now taxed under the regular estate tax rules in NIRC Section 84, as amended by the TRAIN Law (RA No. 10963) — the same 6% flat rate on net estate, but without amnesty’s shield against surcharge, interest, or compromise penalties. The return due is BIR Form 1801, not an amnesty return, and it must go through an estate TIN application first.
Practical consequences of filing late, outside amnesty:
- A 25% surcharge under NIRC Section 248 for late filing and late payment
- Interest of 12% per annum under Section 249 (twice the legal interest rate under the TRAIN Law), running from the return’s original one-year-from-death due date until the tax is paid
- Possible compromise penalties or, for willful non-payment, criminal exposure under the Code
- A required estate TIN via BIR Form 1904 before the estate tax return itself can be filed, since most estates settling late still have no TIN on record
One administrative point unaffected by the deadline: BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 033-2026 clarifies that heirs who did avail of the amnesty on time but have not yet submitted proof of estate settlement (such as an extrajudicial settlement or court order) face no fixed deadline for that specific document — the amnesty availment itself remains valid, though the BIR will not release the electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration (eCAR) needed to transfer property until the proof is filed.
Amnesty-era filing vs. regular filing now: what changed #
The tax rate did not change — it is 6% of net estate either way — but every cost that amnesty waived now applies in full. This is the practical difference an heir faces filing today versus filing before June 16, 2025.
| Feature | Estate tax amnesty (closed June 16, 2025) | Regular filing now (BIR Form 1801) |
|---|---|---|
| Tax rate | 6% of net estate | 6% of net estate (TRAIN Law, Section 84) |
| Surcharge for delay | None | 25% of tax due (Section 248) |
| Interest | None | 12% per annum from original due date (Section 249) |
| Criminal exposure | Waived | Possible for willful non-filing |
| Governing law | RA No. 11213, as amended by RA No. 11569 and RA No. 11956 | NIRC Section 84, as amended by RA No. 10963 (TRAIN Law) |
| Required registration | Estate TIN (BIR Form 1904) | Estate TIN (BIR Form 1904) |
| Installment option | Yes, up to 2 years, no interest | Available only on Commissioner-approved extensions, generally with interest |
Worked example: the cost of missing the deadline #
An estate has a net taxable value of ₱6,000,000, belonging to a decedent who died on June 1, 2021 — squarely within RA No. 11956’s covered period (on or before May 31, 2022). Had the heirs availed of the amnesty by June 16, 2025, the estate amnesty tax would have been a flat 6% × ₱6,000,000 = ₱360,000, with no surcharge or interest, payable in up to two years without interest.
Filing instead in July 2026, under the regular rules, starts from the same 6% base tax of ₱360,000 but adds the civil consequences of lateness measured from the original one-year-from-death deadline (June 1, 2022):
| Component | Computation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Basic estate tax (6%) | 6% × ₱6,000,000 | ₱360,000 |
| Section 248 surcharge (25%) | 25% × ₱360,000 | ₱90,000 |
| Section 249 interest (12% p.a., ≈4.1 years late) | 12% × ₱360,000 × ~4.1 | ≈₱177,000 |
| Total estimated liability | ≈₱627,000 |
Missing the amnesty window on this estate costs roughly ₱267,000 more than the same net estate would have owed under amnesty — and interest keeps accruing daily until the return is filed and paid, so the gap widens the longer the estate waits.
What heirs and estates should do now #
With the amnesty closed and no extension law in force, the only path forward for an unsettled estate is the regular filing process — and acting sooner limits how much surcharge and interest accrue. These steps apply regardless of whether a further extension eventually passes, since any new law would only apply prospectively to estates that file within whatever new window it creates.
- Confirm whether the estate already has a TIN; if not, apply using BIR Form 1904 at the Revenue District Office (RDO) with jurisdiction over the decedent’s last residence
- Gather the estate inventory — real property, bank accounts, shares, vehicles — and supporting documents (death certificate, extrajudicial settlement or will, heirs’ TINs)
- Compute the net estate and the 6% tax due, then file BIR Form 1801, expecting the surcharge and interest add-ons described above if the one-year deadline already passed
- Ask the RDO about available payment arrangements; the Commissioner may still allow installment payment of the assessed amount on meritorious grounds, separate from the now-closed amnesty’s own installment feature
- Track whether House Bill No. 6614 / Senate Bill No. 1865 is enacted — if a new extension law passes and covers the decedent’s date of death, re-evaluate whether re-filing under a revived amnesty becomes available
Summary #
The estate tax amnesty under RA No. 11213, RA No. 11569, and RA No. 11956 closed on June 14, 2025 (observed June 16, 2025) and, as of July 2026, has not been revived by any signed law — House Bill No. 6614 and Senate Bill No. 1865 would extend it to December 31, 2028, but both remain pending. Estates that missed the window face the same 6% rate under BIR Form 1801 plus a 25% surcharge and 12% annual interest, so the practical move now is to register the estate’s TIN, compute the net estate, and file without waiting for a possible future extension.