THE Department of Finance (DOF) is seeking to file a bill with Congress this year to grant a general tax amnesty to taxpayers with unpaid tax liabilities.
On the sidelines of the recent ‘SGV Tax Symposium 2026,’ Finance Undersecretary for Revenue Operations Group Rolando U. Ligon Jr. told reporters that the DOF is currently fine-tuning the draft bill.
‘We still need more information to make sure that the amnesty will be successful. We need to address the additional taxes that we need to collect,’ Ligon said.
‘Hopefully, we will be able to file it within a year. So that at least, it’s filed already. Then, next year, the hearings will start,’ he added.
The general amnesty is part of tax reform measures that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced in his recent State of the Nation Address.
Marcos said the amnesty will cover unpaid estate taxes, income taxes, donor’s taxes and value-added taxes (VAT). It will also include the penalties and surcharges associated with outstanding tax obligations.
The government’s previous estate-tax amnesty covered the estates of people who died on or before May 31, 2022. Its availment period ended in June 2025.
Last year, the DOF proposed a GTA to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Delinquent taxpayers would be allowed to choose between the two computation methods, subject to minimum payment amounts depending on their taxpayer classification.
For individuals, the minimum payment would be 5 percent or P75,000, whichever is higher. Corporations would pay minimum amounts ranging from P100,000 to P1 million, depending on subscribed capital.
Meanwhile, Ligon said the DOF is also open to establishing a voluntary disclosure program for imported automobiles for which importers underpaid or failed to pay the required taxes.
Ligon said there are no guidelines yet for that, but the DOF is studying the plan at the moment. ‘Right now, it’s a very rough draft.’
The DOF has proposed before the inclusion of VAT and excise taxes on importation, with or without assessments duly issued, collected by the Bureau of Customs.