Malacañang said on 23 September that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is inclined to support suspending increases in real property tax, after private-sector real estate representatives argued that higher property valuations would add to owners’ financial burden. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Department of Finance (DOF) has already begun taking action on the matter, but gave no details of the measures being prepared or a timeline for them.
The proposal came out of a special meeting Marcos held on 22 September at Malacañang Palace with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Infrastructure Sector Group – Real Estate. Castro said the companies asked for the increase to be suspended for now, citing the current crisis, and argued it is not the right time to add to property owners’ costs; ABS-CBN News reported that they cited the effects of the Middle East crisis. The meeting also covered how new Schedules of Market Values (SMVs) and general property assessments could affect owners, including whether real property tax should be raised, lowered or kept as it is.
The push builds on an earlier step. At a Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting in August, Marcos asked Senate and House leaders to suspend implementation of Republic Act No. 12001, the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act, and the administration and Congress agreed to review its rollout. Enacted in June 2024, the law sets a uniform valuation system based on international standards and makes prevailing market value the single basis for valuing property for tax assessment. Lawmakers in both chambers have since filed bills amending it, including provisions to suspend the adoption of new or updated SMVs and general property assessments and to extend the real property tax amnesty period before updated SMVs take effect.
For property owners, the reports describe a signal of support from the Palace, not a decision: none of the sources says a suspension has been enacted or issued, and Castro did not say what form the DOF’s action will take.
References
Inquirer.net – Marcos backs private sector’s call to suspend real property tax hike / ABS-CBN News – Marcos ‘supports’ suspending real property tax hike — Palace / Philippine News Agency – PBBM open to real property tax suspension – Palace
