Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) Eastern Visayas regional director Gerardo Avorque. (Photo by BLGF)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) regional office here said the passage of the proposed Valuation Reform Act will help raise the local government’s real property tax (RPT) collection.
With the uniform valuation standards, local governments will be able to collect the right taxes from a property and meet their collection target, BLGF Eastern Visayas regional director Gerardo Avorque said on Wednesday.
The official noted that local governments in the region consistently failed to reach the RPT collection target with 80 percent of cities and towns having outdated market valuations.
In 2022, the region’s six provinces and seven cities generated PHP1.17 billion RPT or just 83 percent of the PHP1.41 billion target for the year.
“If local government units can collect more RPT, they will become less dependent on National Tax Allocation and has a better capacity to provide services,” Avorque told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
The Valuation Reform Act, as proposed under Senate Bill No 897 and House Bill No. 8453, aims to introduce vital reforms to promote the development of a just, equitable, and efficient real property valuation system.
The reforms will broaden the tax base used for property and property-related taxes of the national and local governments, thereby increasing government revenues without increasing the existing tax rates or devising new tax impositions.
“Local governments are supposed to update the schedule of market values every three years, but local officials are hesitant since RPT adjustment it might affect their political ambitions,” he added.
The proposed law aims to address the rampant outdated valuations used for governmental purposes; cost overruns and foregone revenues due to low valuations; valuation as a political issue; multiple, overlapping valuations in different government agencies; there is no single agency responsible for ensuring that valuations are completed following international standards; and absence of a comprehensive real property electronic database.
For valuation purposes, the bill provides that all real properties, whether taxable or exempt, will be valued or appraised by the Department of Finance based on prevailing market values in the locality where the property is situated, in conformity with valuation standards. (PNA)
