Real property valuation reform gets House nod

The chamber approved House Bill No. 4664, which encompasses the third package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP). (File Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a measure seeking to institute reforms in real property valuation and assessment in the country.

The chamber approved House Bill No. 4664, which encompasses the third package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP).

The bill aims to promote the development of a just, equitable, and efficient real property valuation system by adopting a market-based Schedule of Market Values (SMV) to be used as the basis of local and national real property taxation.

It seeks to reorganize and strengthen the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) to provide institutional support and accountability to operationalize the reform agenda.

The BLGF shall be tasked to develop, adopt, and maintain valuation standards consistent with generally-accepted international valuation standards, regulations, and specifications for real property appraisal.

The bureau shall also review and ensure that SMVs are prepared by the local government assessor.

Furthermore, the bureau shall provide technical assistance to government agencies; leadership and policy direction to local government units on real property valuation for taxation; and uniform procedure on different transactions in the assessor’s office.

The bill mandates the establishment of the Real Property Valuation Service within the BLGF.

Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II said that package 3 intends to address the “multiple valuations” for real property by establishing a “comprehensive and up-to-date database of all real property transactions and prices of all materials for buildings, machinery, and other structures.”

“We want an internationally accepted standard for valuation as our basis,” Lambino said.

He added that once the law is passed, the valuation will no longer be politicized because it is the Department of Finance (DOF) that will approve the schedule of market valuation (SMV).

The assessor’s office of the local government unit will submit the proposed assessment to the BLGF, which in turn will endorse the document to the DOF.