PRELIMINARY
ARTICLE
Title of Act
Section 1. Title of this Act. — This Act shall be known as the
Assessment Law.
ARTICLE I
General Provisions
Section 2. Incidence of real property tax. — Except in
chartered cities, there shall be levied, assessed, and collected, an
annual ad valorem tax on real property, including land, buildings,
machinery, and other improvements not hereinafter specifically
exempted.
Section 3. Property exempt from tax. — The exemptions
shall be as follows:
(a) Property owned by the United States of America,
the Commonwealth of the Philippines, any province, city, municipality
or municipal district.
(b) Cemeteries or burial grounds.
(c) Churches and parsonages or convents appurtenant
thereto, and all lands, buildings, and improvements used exclusively
for religious, charitable, scientific, or educational purposes.
(d) When the entire assessed valuation of real
property in any one municipality or municipal district belonging to a
single owner is not in excess of one hundred pesos, or when the
assessed valuation of a house, used as residence of the owner thereof,
together with the lot on which the same is built, does not exceed three
hundred pesos and such owner has no other property, the tax thereon
shall not be collected, nor shall the tax be collected on a dwelling
house built on the field, nor or an adjacent orchard, if any, as
improvement, if the assessed value of each assessed separately, is not
in excess of one hundred pesos, though in any event of the property
shall be valued for the purposes of assessment and record shall be kept
thereof as in other cases.
(e) Land held by a homesteader under an application
filed in accordance with law prior to the approval by the Director of
lands of the final evidence as required by law; but this exemption does
not extend to buildings and improvements thereon the title to which is
not in the Government.
(f) Machinery, which term shall embrace machines,
mechanical contrivances, instruments, appliances, and apparatus
attached to the real estate, used for industrial agricultural or
manufacturing purposes, during the first five years of the operation of
the machinery.
(g) Fruit trees and bamboo plants, except where the
land upon which they grow is planted principally in such growth.
(h) Until December thirty-first, nineteen hundred
thirty-nine, land not exceeding one hundred hectares used for airports
or landing fields open to all aircraft operations, either free of
charge or upon the payment of a nominal charge, together with such
improvements thereon as are used exclusively for aeronautical purposes,
when such airports are necessary facilities for air commerce. The
airports or landing files herein exempted from taxation shall revert to
their original taxation status upon the certification of the Secretary
of Public Works and Communications that they are no longer necessary or
suitable facilities for air commerce.
The provisions hereof notwithstanding, depreciation allowance shall be
made for machinery mentioned in section three (f) equivalent to an
amount not exceeding ten per centum of its value for its year of
use.
Section 4. Principle governing valuation and
assessments. — All real property subject to taxation under the
provisions of this Act shall be valued and assessed for taxation at its
true and full value in accordance with the schedule of values in force
in the municipality or municipal district wherein it is situated. As
far as property applicable such schedule shall be controlling; but when
the property to be assessed is of a kind not classified in the schedule
or of a kind for which a value is not therein fixed, it shall be
assessed at its full and true value, independently of such schedule.
Section 5. Division of proceeds of real property tax
between provinces and municipalities or municipal districts. — The
proceeds of the real property tax shall be applied to the use and
benefited the respective provinces and municipalities or municipal
districts wherein the property liable to such tax is situated. The
share of a province in said tax shall be levied by the provincial board
thereof whose duty it shall be, on or before the fifteen day of
December of each year, to fix by resolution a uniform rate of taxation
for the succeeding year, which shall be not less than one-eight nor
more than four-eighths of one per centum.
The share of a municipality or municipal district shall in the same
manner be levied by ordinance of the municipal or municipal district
council and it shall be not less than two eighths nor more than
four-eighths of one per centum.
In municipalities or municipal districts wherein, on the date of the
approval of this Act, the municipal rate is in excess of four-eighths
of one per centum, the existing rate shall remain in force until
reduced by ordinance.
In the Mountain Province, the municipal share is hereby levied at four
eighths of one per centum and the share of the province may, in the
discretion of the provincial board be levied by resolution in an amount
not less than two-eighths nor more than four-eighths of one per centum:
Provided, That the municipal share may be changed by ordinance to not
less than two-eighths nor more than four-eighths of one per centum.
The resolution of the Provincial Board and the municipal ordinance
fixing the rate of real property tax shall remain in force for
succeeding years unless said resolution or ordinance is amended on or
before the fifteenth day of December of the year next preceding the one
in which such amendment is to take effect: Provided, That any reduction
in the rates of real property tax shall be subject to the approval of
the Secretary of Finance.
Section 6. Special application of portions of proceeds
of tax. — The gross proceeds of the first one-eighth of one per centum
levied or imposed for provincial purposes shall accrue, in a regularly
organized province, exclusively to its road and bridge fund, and in a
specially organized province, exclusively to its road and public works
fund: Provided, That the proceeds of said first one-eighths of one per
centum levied or imposed for provincial purposes and collected in
municipalities, municipal districts, barrios, and sitios situated on
islands not benefited by the construction and maintenance of roads
maintained with provincial funds, shall hereafter be applied to school
purposes or for the construction and maintenance of local roads or any
other local improvements, as the municipal council or municipal
district council concerned may determine. The gross proceeds of the
remaining three-eighths of one per centum or any part thereof, levied
for provincial purposes, shall accrue to the general fund of the
province.
The gross proceeds of the first two-eighths of one per centum levied or
imposed for municipal purposes shall accrue exclusively to the school
fund of the municipality or municipal district. The gross proceeds of
the remaining two-eighths of one per centum, or any part thereof,
levied for municipal purposes, shall accrue to the general fund of the
municipality or municipal district.
In the case of the Mountain Province, the gross proceeds of the
four-eighths of one per centum hereinabove levied for municipal or
municipal district purposes shall accrue to the municipal general fund.
The gross proceeds of the four-eighths of one per centum, or any part
thereof, levied or imposed for provincial purposes, shall accrue to the
general fund of the province.
ARTICLE I
The Provincial Assessor and his Powers
Section 7. Provincial assessor, his deputy,
appointment and powers. — There shall be in each province a provincial
assessor who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines
with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National
Assembly and whose salary shall not exceed the following schedule:
First-class province, three thousand pesos; second class, two thousand
four hundred; third class, two thousand forty; fourth class, one
thousand eight hundred; and fifth class, one thousand two hundred. The
present incumbents shall continue in their positions unless otherwise
changed by the President within one year after the approval of this
Act. Subject to the approval of the Secretary of Finance, the
provincial assessor shall appoint the deputy assessors and other
employees in his office whose number and salaries shall be fixed by the
provincial board in accordance with law.
The Government officer or employee now discharging the duties of an
assessor or deputy assessor shall continue to discharge such duties
with his present additional compensation until his successor is
appointed and duly qualified.
The oath of office of a provincial assessor and deputy assessor shall
contain a statement to the effect that the affiant will appraise the
real property subject to taxation in the province at its true value in
money, as required by law.
The provincial assessor shall be the officer in charge of assessment in
the province. In the performance of his duties, he shall be authorized,
from time to time, as occasion may require:
(a) To establish a systematic method of assessment.
(b) To prepare a map showing graphically all property
subject to the tax in his province and gather all data concerning the
same.
(c) To keep a record of all transfers of land, leases
and mortgages of real property, rentals, insurance, and cost of
construction of buildings and other improvements on land for assessment
purposes.
(d) To receive proper declarations of property not
previously declared by the owner, or to make official declarations
therefor, as the case may require.
(e) To fix the value of real property not previously
assessed and to assess the same for taxation according to law.
(f) To cancel the declaration of an original owner of
property which has changed ownership and to substitute therefor the new
declaration in the name of the new owner.
(g) To cancel, in case more than one declaration of
the same property is received, all except the one properly made; but if
any declarant shall object to the cancellation of his declaration, such
declaration shall not be cancelled but the fact shall be noted thereon
and in the proper book of record, and similar notation shall be made on
the duplicate declaration. In this case, preference shall be given to
the declaration of the person who has the best title to the property,
or, in default thereof, to the person who has possession of the
property.
(h) To cancel, raise, or lower, as the case may
require, the assessment of any parcel or item of real property in any
municipality or municipal district or of the property of any owner or
owners therein whenever it appears that the existing assessment,
whether originally proper or not, does not conform to the requirements
of law: Provided, however, That the assessment of real property shall
not be increased within two years from its last assessment in the
absence of new improvement increasing the value of said property.
In the exercise of this power, the provincial assessor shall eliminate
from the list of taxable property all property which, being exempt, has
been improperly included in the same; he shall decrease the assessment
where property previously assessed has suffered a permanent loss of
value by reason of storm, flood, fire, or other casualty; and shall
increase the assessment where taxable improvements have been made upon
property subsequent to the last previous assessment.
(i) To issue certified copies of the declarations of
real property and of all other records relative to the assessment of
said real property, charging a sum of not less than ten nor more than
twenty centavos for each one hundred words, including the certificate,
in the discretion of the provincial board, the proceeds whereof shall
be paid into the provincial treasury.
Section 8. Preparation of schedules of values by the
assessor. — Before any general assessment revision is made in a
province or any municipality or municipal district thereof, the
provincial assessor shall prepare, in such form and detail as shall be
prescribed by the Secretary of Finance, a general schedule of the
values of the different classes of real property in each municipality
or municipal district of the province, which shall be submitted to the
Secretary of Finance, who shall approve, disapprove or modify the same,
or any part thereof. Said schedule shall, upon final action by the
Secretary of Finance, be the basis of valuations for assessment.
Section 9. General revision of values of property
subject to tax. — When so directed by the Secretary of Finance, or by
the provincial board with the approval of the Secretary of Finance, the
provincial assessor shall make a general revision of real property
values in his province or in any municipality or municipal district
thereof, and shall make a new assessment or revised assessment thereof
according to law. A general assessment revision shall not be made more
frequently than once in two years. All expenses in connection with a
general revision of assessments shall be prorated among the various
provincial and municipal funds concerned in the same proportion as the
real property tax accrues to said funds during the year in which the
expenses are incurred.
Section 10. Certification of revised values to
the secretary of finance. — When the provincial assessor shall finish a
general revision of the assessments for any municipality or municipal
district, he shall so certify to the Secretary of Finance, and the
assessment shall become effective and taxes shall accrue and be payable
thereunder commencing with the year next ensuing.
Section 11. Amending schedules of values. — For
the correction of errors or inequalities in any schedule of values, the
Secretary of Finance may, at any time, require the provincial assessor
to prepare an amendment designed to remedy such errors or inequalities.
Such amendments shall be subject to the same conditions as to
preparation and modification as general schedules.
Section 12. Declaration to be prepared by owner
of real property. — It shall be the duty of every owner of real
property within a municipality or municipal district or his duly
authorized representative, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and
submit to the provincial assessor a declaration of said property
stating the value of each parcel thereof which he owns within the
municipality or municipal district. Such declaration shall contain a
description of the property sufficient in detail to enable the
provincial assessor to identify the same.
It shall also be the duty of any person acquiring at any time real
property in any municipality or municipal district or making any
improvement on real property belonging to him, to prepare and submit to
the provincial assessor, within sixty days after the acquisition of
such property or the completion of the improvement, a declaration
containing the value of the real property so acquired or of the
improvement made. The property and improvement must be so described as
to enable the provincial assessor to identify the same on
examination.
He shall subscribe the declaration and verify the same on oath free of
charge, before the municipal treasurer or before the provincial
assessor, or if not conveniently accessible to one of these, before the
municipal mayor or any other person authorized to administer oaths.
Section 13. Assessment of property subject to
back taxes. — Real property declared for the first time shall have back
taxes assessed against it for the period during which it would have
been liable if assessed from the first in proper course but in no case
for more than four years prior to the year of the initial assessment.
If said taxes are paid before the expiration of the tax-collection
period next ensuing, no penalty for delinquency shall be imposed, but
if they be not so paid the property shall be subject to all the
penalties to which it would have been liable had it originally become
delinquent after assessment in usual course.
Section 14. Declaration made by assessor for
owner. — When real property is found in any municipality or municipal
district the owner of which refuses or fails to make the required
declaration, the provincial assessor shall himself declare the property
in the name of the defaulting owner, if known, or as against an unknown
owner, as the case may be, and shall assess the property for taxation
accordingly.
No oath shall be required to a declaration thus made by the provincial
assessor.
Section 15. Authority of assessor and deputy
assessor to take evidence. — For the purpose of obtaining information
on which to base the correct assessment of any real property, the
provincial assessor or his deputy may summon witnesses, administer
oaths, and take depositions concerning the property, its amount, nature
or value.
Section 16. Notification of increased
assessment. — When real property is assessed at a value greater than
that stated in the declaration of the owner, or where an existing
assessment is increased to an amount in excess of that so stated, the
provincial assessor shall immediately give written notice of such
assessment or increased assessment to the owner, or in his absence, to
his authorized agent in the Philippines, or if there be none such, to
the occupant in possession, if any. This notice may be delivered
personally or may be mailed to the last known address of the person to
be served.
Written notice shall also be given in like manner to the owner, or his
agent, if known, or to the occupant, if such there be, of the valuation
placed on property newly declared.
Section 17. Appeal by owner to the Board of Tax
Appeals. — Any owner who is not satisfied with the action of a
provincial assessor in the assessment of his property may, within sixty
days from the date of receipt by him of the written notice of
assessment as provided in section sixteen hereof, appeal to the Board
of Tax Appeals, which is created in each province, by filing with it or
with the municipal treasurer of the municipality where the property
assessed is situated who is duly bound to transmit it to the Board of
Tax Appeals, a petition to that effect stating the grounds of his
appeal.
The Board of Tax Appeals shall be composed of five members to be
appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly. Three members of
the Board shall be selected from among government officials in the
province, other than those in charge of assessment, and they shall
serve without additional compensation. The other two members shall be
selected from among property owners in the province, and they shall
each receive a compensation of five pesos for each day of session
actually attended, plus actual traveling expenses from his usual place
of residence and return. The chairman of the Board shall be designated
in the appointment and he shall have the power to designate a deputy
assessor to serve as the secretary of the Board without additional
compensation. The chairman and members of the Board of Tax Appeals
shall hold office at the pleasure of the Secretary of Finance.
The Board shall hold such number of sessions as may be authorized by
the Secretary of Finance.
All expenses of the Board shall be charged against the general fund of
the province.
The members of the Board shall each take the following oath:
"I, _______________________, of
__________________, having been appointed to the position of
________________, hereby solemnly swear that I will well and faithfully
discharge to the best of my ability the duties of my present position
and of all others I may hereafter hold under the Commonwealth of the
Philippines; that I will support and defend the Constitution of the
Philippines; and that I will obey the laws, legal orders, and decrees
promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Commonwealth of
the Philippines; and that I will well and truly hear and determine all
matters and issues between taxpayers and the provincial assessor
submitted for my decision; and I hereby declare that I recognize and
accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in the
Philippines, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; and
that I impose this obligation upon myself voluntarily, without mental
reservation or purpose of evasion.
So help me God.
________________________
(Signature)
Subscribed and sworn to before me this __________________ day of
_______________________, A. D., ___________________ at
________________________________, Philippines.
_________________________________
(Signature of officer administering oath)
Section 18. Action by the Board of Tax Appeals.
— The Board of Tax Appeals shall take action upon the complaint within
ninety days from the receipt thereof; and if such action be favorable
to the taxpayer the provincial assessor shall be so notified and may
thereupon amend the assessment accordingly. If, however, the provincial
assessor be not satisfied with the decision of the Board of Tax
Appeals, he may, within twenty days after receipt of notice of the
decision of the Board, appeal to the Secretary of Finance by filing
with the Secretary of the Board a notice to that effect. Within ten
days after receipt of such notice, the secretary of the Board shall
forward all the papers of the case to the Secretary of Finance whose
decision in the matter shall be final.
If the taxpayer is not satisfied with the decision of the Board of Tax
Appeals, he may likewise appeal to the Secretary of Finance in the same
manner as above provided.
Any assessment changed by the Board of Tax Appeals and acquiesced in by
the parties shall be certified to the provincial treasurer.
Section 19. Review by Board of Tax Appeals. —
The Board of Tax Appeals shall have the power to review, on its own
motion, assessments found to be unjust, erroneous or unlawful or not in
accordance with the provisions of section four of this Act, and any
reassessment thus made shall be appealable to the Secretary of Finance
as provided in the preceding section.
Section 20. Evidence in Assessment Proceedings.
— In the exercise of their appellate and supervisory powers on
assessments, the Secretary of Finance and the Board of Tax Appeals may
receive, take, and consider not only the evidence on which the officers
in charge of the assessment have acted, but other pertinent evidence,
in the form of either oral testimony or affidavits or deposition.
ARTICLE III
Payment of the Real Property Tax
Section 21. Date of accrual of tax; tax and
penalties to constitute a lien on the property. — The real property tax
for any year shall become due and payable on the first of January and
from the same date said tax and all penalties subsequently accruing
thereto shall constitute a lien upon the property subject to such tax.
Said lien shall be superior to all other liens, mortgages, or
encumbrances of any kind whatsoever, shall be enforceable against the
property whether in the possession of the delinquent or any subsequent
owner or possessor, and shall be removable only by the payment of the
delinquent taxes and penalties.
Section 22. Notice of time for collection of
tax. — The provincial treasurer shall cause notice of the periods
during which the real property tax may be paid in each municipality or
municipal district to be posted not later than the thirty-first day of
January of each year at the main entrance of the provincial building
and of all municipal buildings and in a public and conspicuous place in
each barrio, and published in the newspaper or by crier.
Section 23. Payment of the real property tax in
installments. — The real property tax may, in the discretion of the
taxpayer, be paid in two installments as the provincial board may by
resolution determine not later than the fifth day of January of the
year during which such resolution is to take effect for the first time:
Provided, That the last day of the first and second installment periods
shall not be later than May thirty-first and November thirtieth of each
year, respectively. Any change in the period and amount of installments
made after January fifth shall take effect in the next ensuing
year.
Any person who shall on the last day of any period established for the
payment of the real property tax be in the municipal building, ready
and prepared to pay but is unable to do so because of the great number
of taxpayers, shall be given a suitable card entitling him to pay the
tax without penalty on the day next following.
Section 24. Part payment of tax. — When the
property owner cannot pay the total of the tax due, he may make a
partial payment on one parcel or more, or for part of any of them.
Section 25. Payment under protest. — When a
taxpayer desires for any reason to pay his tax under protest, such
protest shall be annotated on the tax receipt by writing thereon the
words "paid under protest." Verbal protest shall be confirmed in
writing, with a statement of the ground or grounds therefor, within
thirty days. The tax may be paid under protest, and in such case it
shall be the duty of the municipal treasurer to annotate the ground or
grounds therefor for on the receipt.
Section 26. Power of provincial board to extend term for payment of tax
without penalty. — The provincial board shall have power, for just
cause, to extend the term or terms for the payment without penalty of
the real property tax in the province or in any municipality or
municipal district thereof, for a period not exceeding three months
during the same calendar year; but a resolution so disposing shall not
take effect until approved by the President of the Philippines.
Section 27. Power of President of the
Philippines to postpone term without penalty. — The President of the
Philippines may in his discretion postpone the term for the payment
without penalty of the real property tax, or of installments thereof,
as the case may be, in any province, municipality, or municipal
district, to any period falling within the same calendar year.
ARTICLE IV
Delinquency in the Payment of Real Property Tax
Section 28. Notice of delinquency in the payment
of the real property tax. — Upon the real property tax becoming
delinquent, the provincial treasurer shall immediately cause notice of
that fact to be posted at the main entrance of the provincial building
and of all municipal buildings and in a public and conspicuous place in
each barrio of the municipality or municipal district concerned.
Such notice shall specify the date upon which the tax became
delinquent, and shall state that personal property is subject to
seizure, to effect payment. It shall also state that, at any time
before the seizure of personal property, payment may be made with
penalty in accordance with the next following section, and further,
that unless the tax and penalties be paid before the expiration of the
year for which the tax is due, or the tax shall have been judicially
set aside, the delinquent real property will be sold at public auction,
and that thereafter the full title to the property will be and remain
in the purchaser, subject only to the right of the delinquent taxpayer
or any other person in his behalf to repurchase the sold property
within one year from the date of sale.
Section 29. Penalty for delinquency. — Failure
to pay the real property tax before the expiration of the term for the
payment without penalty of the same or installments thereof, shall
subject the taxpayer to the payment of a penalty of one per centum on
the amount of the delinquent tax for each month of delinquency or
fraction thereof until the delinquent tax shall be fully paid:
Provided, That in no case shall the total penalty exceed twelve per
centum of the delinquent tax.
Section 30. Distraint of personal property for
delinquency. — After delinquency in the payment of the real property
tax has occurred, payment of such tax may be enforced by distraining
the personal property of the delinquent person or persons. In such
case, the provincial treasurer or his deputy shall issue a duly
authenticated certificate, based upon the records of his office,
showing the fact of delinquency and the amount of tax and penalty due
from such delinquents or each of them. This certificate shall be
sufficient warrant for the seizure of any non-exempt personal property
belonging to the delinquent or delinquents in question; and such
process may be executed by the provincial treasurer, his deputy, or any
officer authorized to execute legal process.
Section 31. Personal property exempt from
distraint or levy. — The following property shall be exempt from
distraint and from the levy of attachment or execution for delinquency
in the payment of the real property tax:
(a) Tools and implements necessarily used by the
delinquent taxpayer in his trade or employment.
(b) One horse or cow, or carabao, or other beast of
burden, such as the delinquent taxpayer may select, and necessarily
used by him in his ordinary occupation.
(c) His necessary clothing, and that of all his
family.
(d) Household furniture and utensils necessary for
housekeeping, and used for that purpose by the delinquent taxpayer,
such as he may select, of a value not exceeding one hundred pesos.
(e) Provisions actually provided for individual or
family use sufficient for four months.
(f) The professional libraries of lawyers, judges,
clergymen, doctors, school teachers, and music teachers, not exceeding
five hundred pesos in value.
(g) One fishing boat and net, not exceeding the total
value of one hundred pesos, the property of any fisherman, by the
lawful use of which he earns a livelihood.
(h) Any material or article forming part of a house
or improvement of any real property.
Section 32. Sale of distrained personal property. — Property seized upon
process under section thirty hereof shall, after due advertisement, be
exposed for sale at public auction to the highest bidder, and so much
of the same shall be thus sold as may be necessary to satisfy the tax,
penalty, and costs of the seizure and sale. The purchaser at such sale
shall acquire an indefeasible title to the property.
Advertisement in such cases shall be given by notice stating the time,
place and cause of the sale, posted for ten days before the date of the
auction at the main entrance of the municipal building and at a public
and conspicuous place in the barrio were the property was seized.
The sale shall take place, in the discretion of the provincial
treasurer or his deputy, either at the main entrance of the municipal
building or at the place where the property was seized. If no
satisfactory bid or no bid at all is received in the places mentioned,
the distrained property may be sold anywhere in the province at public
auction.
Section 33. Return of officer — Disposition of
proceeds. — The officer conducting a sale under the preceding section
shall make immediate return of his proceedings and a memorandum thereof
shall be entered by the provincial treasurer in his records. Any
surplus proceeds resulting from the sale, and any of the property
remaining unsold in the hands of the officer, shall be returned to the
delinquent taxpayer.
Section 34. Redemption of distrained property. —
The owner of personal property seized for the non-payment of taxes
hereunder may redeem the same from the collecting officer at any time
after seizure and before sale by tendering to him the amount of the
tax, the penalty, and the costs incurred up to the time of tender. The
costs to be charged in making such seizure and sale shall only embrace
the actual expenses of seizure and preservation of the property pending
the sale, and no charge shall be imposed for the services of the
collecting officer or his deputy.
Section 35. Advertisement of sale of real
property at public auction. — After the expiration of the year for
which the tax is due, the provincial treasurer shall advertise the sale
at public auction of the delinquent real property or so much thereof as
may be necessary to satisfy all taxes and penalties due and the costs
of sale. Such advertisement shall be made by posting a notice for three
consecutive weeks at the main entrances of the provincial building and
all municipal buildings in the province, and in a public and
conspicuous place in the barrio wherein the property is situated, in
English, Spanish, and the local dialect commonly used, and, in the
discretion of the provincial treasurer, by publishing it once a week
for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation
published in the province, if there be any. Copy of the notice shall be
forthwith sent by registered mail or by messenger to the delinquent
taxpayer at his residence if known to said treasurer. The notice shall
set forth the amount of the taxes and penalties due and the costs of
sale, the date and place of the sale, the name of the taxpayer against
whom the taxes were assessed and the approximate area, the lot number
and the location, stating the street, number, district, barrio,
municipality, and province where the real property to be sold is
situated.
Section 36. Sale of real property — conditions.
— At any time during or before the sale, the taxpayer may stay all
proceedings by paying the taxes and penalties due on the real property
and the costs to the provincial treasurer or his deputy conducting the
sale. If he does not do so, the sale shall proceed, which shall be held
either at the main entrance of the municipal government building or on
the site of the real property to be sold, as the provincial treasurer
or his deputy may determine.
The provincial treasurer or his deputy shall make report of the sale to
the provincial board within five days after the sale and shall make the
same appear in his records. The purchaser at this sale shall receive
from the provincial treasurer or his deputy a certificate setting forth
the proceedings had at the sale, a description of the property sold,
the name of the purchaser, the price of sale, and the exact amount of
the taxes, and penalties due, and the costs of sale.
Section 37. Provincial treasurer may bury real
property in behalf of province if no other bidder. — In case there is
no bidder at the public auction of the delinquent real property or if
the highest bid is for an amount not sufficient to pay the taxes,
penalties and costs, the provincial treasurer may, in his discretion,
buy the delinquent real property in the name of the province for the
amount of taxes and penalties due thereon, and the costs of sale.
Should the provincial treasurer buy the real property in the name of
the province, he shall forthwith issue to the provincial board a
certificate to the effect that the real property has been sold to the
province for the amount of taxes, penalties and costs, and shall make
within five days thereafter a return of his proceedings which shall be
spread upon the records of his office. The owner of the delinquent real
property shall be furnished with a copy of the sale certificate.
Section 38. Repurchase of real property after
sale. — Within the term of one year from the date of the sale, the
delinquent taxpayer or any other person in his behalf shall have the
right to repurchase the property sold by paying to the provincial
treasurer or his deputy the total amount of taxes and penalties due up
to the date of repurchase, the costs of sale and the interest, at the
rate of twelve per centum per annum, on the purchase price, and such
payment shall invalidate the sale certificate issued to the purchaser
or to the provincial board and shall entitle the person making the same
to a certificate from the provincial treasurer or his deputy, stating
that he had repurchased the property, and the provincial treasurer or
his deputy, upon surrender by the purchaser of the certificate of sale
previously issued to him, shall forthwith return to the latter the
entire sum paid by him plus the interest at twelve per centum per annum
herein provided for, and said property shall thereafter be free from
the lien of said taxes and penalties.
Section 39. Possession and usufruct of real
property within one year from date of sale. — After the sale and before
repurchase, or before the expiration of the term of one year
hereinabove fixed for such repurchase, the real property shall remain
in the possession of the delinquent taxpayer who shall have the right
to the usufruct thereof.
Section 40. Issuance of final bill of sale. — In
case the delinquent taxpayer does not repurchase the property sold as
herein provided within the period of one year from the date of the
sale, the provincial treasurer shall make an instrument sufficient in
form and effect to convey to the purchaser the property purchased by
him, or to the province, as the case may be, free from any encumbrance
whatsoever, and the said instrument shall succinctly set forth all
proceedings upon which the validity of the sale depends. Any balance,
of the proceeds of the sale left after deducting the amount of the
taxes and penalties due, and the costs, shall be returned to the
original owner or his representative.
Section 41. Disposition of Proceeds. — The
proceeds of all delinquent taxes and penalties, with the income derived
from the use, lease, or other disposition of the real property bought
by the province at a tax sale in accordance with the provisions of this
Act, and the proceeds of the repurchase or sale of the delinquent real
property, shall accrue to the provincial and municipal governments in
the same manner and proportion as if the tax or taxes had been paid in
regular course.
ARTICLE V
Special Assessment
Section 42. Power of the municipal council to
levy special assessments for certain purposes. — In addition to the
powers conferred by existing law, the municipal council may, by
ordinance duly approved, provide for the levying and collection, by
special assessments of the lands comprised within the municipality or
section thereof specially benefited, a part not exceeding sixty per
centum of the cost of laying out, opening, constructing, straightening,
widening, extending, grading, paving, curbing, walling, deepening, or
otherwise establishing, repairing, enlarging, or improving public
avenues, roads, streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks, plazas, bridges,
landing places, wharves, piers, docks, levees, reservoirs, waterworks,
water mains, water courses, esteros, canals, drains, and sewers,
including the cost of acquiring, the necessary land, as hereinafter
provided. Within the meaning of this section all lands comprised within
the district benefited, except lands owned by the United States of
America, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, any province,
municipality, or other political subdivision of the Philippines, shall
be subject to the payment of the special assessment, apportioned,
computed, and assessed according to the valuation of such lands as
shown by the books of the provincial assessor, or its present value as
fixed by said officer in the first instance if the property does not
appear of record in his books.
Section 43. Ordinance levying special
assessment. — The ordinance providing for the levying and collection of
a special assessment shall describe with reasonable accuracy the
nature, extent, and location of the work to be undertaken; the probable
cost of the work; the percentage of the cost to be defrayed by special
assessment; the district subject to the payment of the percentage of
the cost of the proposed work so established, the limits whereof shall
be stated by monuments and lines, and the number of annual
installments, which shall not be less than five nor more than ten, in
which said special assessment shall be payable without interest. The
municipal council shall not be obliged to establish a uniform
percentage for all lands subject to the payment of the tax for the
entire district, but it may fix different rates for different parts or
sections thereof, according as to whether such land is more or less
benefited by the proposed work.
The district engineer shall make the plans, specifications, and
estimates of the proposed work.
Section 44. Publication of proposed ordinance
levying special assessment. — The proposed special assessment ordinance
shall be published, with the list of the owners of the lands affected
thereby, once a week for four consecutive weeks in any newspaper
published in the locality, one in English, one in Spanish, and one in
the local dialect, if there be any, and in default of local papers, in
any newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The said
ordinance in English, Spanish, and the local dialect, shall also be
posted in places where public notices are generally posted in the
municipality and places affected by said improvement, and shall also be
published once a week during four consecutive weeks by crier.
The municipal secretary shall, on application, furnish a copy of the
proposed ordinance to each landowner affected, or his agent, and shall,
if possible, send to all a copy of said proposed ordinance by ordinary
mail or otherwise.
Section 45. Protest against special assessment.
— Not later than thirty days after the last publication of the
ordinance and list of landowners included in the zone subject to
special assessment, a protest may be submitted to the municipal council
signed by a majority of the landowners affected representing more than
one-half of the total assessed value of said lands, setting forth the
addresses of the signers and arguments in support of their objection or
protest against the improvement to be made or against the special
assessment established in the ordinance. If no protest is filed within
the time and under the conditions above specified, the municipal
ordinance shall become final and effective in all its points after its
approval by the municipal council.
Section 46. Hearing of protest. — The municipal
council shall designate a date and place for the hearing of the protest
filed in accordance with the next preceding section and shall give
reasonable time to all protestants who have given their addresses and
to all landowners affected by any protest or protests, and shall order
the publication once a week, during two consecutive weeks, in any
newspaper of the locality, if there be one, or, in default thereof, in
any newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, of a notice
in English or Spanish or the local dialect, of the place and date of
the hearing to be held. Said notice shall likewise be posted in the
places where public notices are usually posted in each municipality and
place affected by said improvement. After the proper hearing, the
council shall render its decision conforming, modifying, or revoking
its ordinance, and shall send notice of its decision to all interested
parties who have given their addresses, and shall order the publication
of such decision, together with a list of the owners of the parcels of
land affected by the special assessment, three times weekly, for to
consecutive weeks, in the manner hereinabove specified. The decision
shall become final if before the expiration of thirty days from the
date of its last publication no appeal is filed with the provincial
board against the proposed improvement or against the special
assessment, signed by at least a majority of the landowners included in
the special assessment zone representing more than one-half of the
total assessed value of the lands affected. The appellant or appellants
shall immediately give the municipal council a written notice of the
appeal.
Section 47. Decision of the appeal. — If an
appeal is taken from the decision of the municipal council in the
manner provided for in the next preceding section, said council shall
forward to the provincial board an excerpt from the minutes of said
council relative to the proposed improvement and all other documents in
connection therewith, within ten days after receipt of the notice of
appeal. The provincial board shall designate the place and set a date
which shall be within thirty days following receipt by the board of the
documents from the municipal council, for the hearing of the appeal,
giving both parties notice thereof. During the hearing of the appeal,
the municipal council shall be represented and heard, and the
provincial board shall examine de novo all point involved in the
protest filed, and its decision thereon shall be final.
Section 48. Fixing of amount of special
assessment. — Upon the approval of the ordinance, the provincial
treasurer shall forthwith proceed to determine the annual amount of
special tax assessed against each parcel of land comprised within the
district specially benefited, and shall send to each landowner a
written notice thereof by ordinary mail. If upon completion of the work
it should appear that the cost thereof is smaller or greater than the
estimated cost of the work, the provincial treasurer shall without
delay proceed to correct the assessment by increasing or decreasing, as
the case may be, the special tax on each parcel of land affected, for
the balance of the unpaid installments. If all annual installments have
already been paid, the provincial treasurer shall fix the amount of
credit to be allowed to, or the additional special tax to be levied
upon the land, as the case may be. In all cases, he shall give notice
of such rectifications to the parties interested.
Section 49. Payment of special assessments. —
All sums due from any landowner or owners in consequence of any
provision adopted pursuant to this article shall be payable to the
provincial treasurer in the same manner as the annual ordinary tax
levied upon real property, in accordance with the provisions of the
preceding sections, and shall be subject to the same penalties or
delinquency and be enforced by the same means as said annual ordinary
tax; and all said sums together with any of said penalties shall, from
the dates on which they were assessed, constitute special liens upon
the land concerned, and shall have preference over other liens there
may be on said land, with the sole exception of the lien for nonpayment
of the ordinary real property tax.
ARTICLE VI
Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 50. Collection of the real property tax
through the courts. — The delinquent real property tax shall constitute
a lawful indebtedness of the taxpayer to the province and may be
enforced by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction. This
remedy shall be in addition to all other remedies provided by law.
Section 51. Repayment of excessive collections.
— When it appears that an assessment of real property was erroneous and
unjust when made and the same is reduced of such error or injustice,
and not by reason of damage incurred or deterioration suffered by such
property subsequent to the date of original assessment, the taxpayer
shall be entitled to the proper refund for taxes and penalties paid by
him for not more than three years.
Timely notice shall be given by the provincial treasurer to every
taxpayer whose assessment is so reduced and he shall be furnished a
certificate showing the amount of refund to which he is entitled for
payment already made.
If no taxes shall have been paid upon the original assessment the
taxpayer shall pay the proper tax upon the reduced assessment, with its
incident penalty.
Section 52. Remission of tax by provincial board. — In case of a general
failure of crops or great decrease in the price of products, or similar
widespread disaster in any municipal or municipalities of a province,
the provincial board of the same, by resolution passed prior to the
first of January of any year, may remit, wholly or partially, the real
property tax or the penalties thereon for the succeeding year in the
municipality or municipalities affected by the disaster; but a
resolution so disposing must clearly state the reasons for such
remission and shall not take effect until approved by the Secretary of
Finance.
Section 53. Remission or reduction of tax by the
President of the Philippines. — The President of the Philippines may,
in his discretion, remit or reduce the real property tax for any year
in any municipality or province if he deems that the public interest so
requires.
In case of failure of any crop or great decrease in the price of any
product in any municipality, the President of the Philippines may, in
his discretion, likewise reduce the tax for any year on the lands and
improvements affected: Provided, That pending the new assessment in any
province as provided for in this Act, the assessed value of all
permanent plants and/or trees on any taxable real property in said
province is hereby reduced to fifty per centum beginning January first,
nineteen hundred and forty, until the first day of January of the year
following the completion of the reassessment of real property in said
province.
Section 54. Restriction upon power of court to
impeach tax. — No court shall entertain any suit assailing the validity
of a tax assessed under this Act until the taxpayer shall have paid,
under protest, the taxes assessed against him, nor shall any court
declare any tax invalid by reason of irregularities or informalities in
the proceedings of the officers charged with the assessment or
collection of the taxes, or of a failure to perform their duties within
the time herein specified for their performance, unless such
irregularities, informalities, or failure shall have impaired the
substantial rights of the taxpayer; nor shall any court declare any tax
assessed under the provisions of this Act invalid except upon condition
that the taxpayer shall pay the just amount of his tax, as determined
by the court in the pending proceeding.
Section 55. Restriction upon power of court to
impeach sale. — No court shall entertain any suit assailing the
validity of a sale made under the provisions of this Act until the
taxpayer shall have paid into court the taxes and penalties due thereon
and the costs of sale. If the judgment in such suit be in favor of the
taxpayer the money so paid into court shall be applied to the
satisfaction of such taxes, penalties, and costs; otherwise, it shall
be returned to him after the deduction of any court costs chargeable to
him in the cause.
Section 56. Duty of officers to assist
provincial assessor. — It shall be the duty of the municipal mayor,
secretary, and treasurer and of all officers and employees of the
provincial and municipal governments to render all necessary assistance
to the provincial assessor. Likewise, it shall be the duty of registers
of deeds and notaries public to furnish provincial assessors copies of
all contracts conveying, leasing, or mortgaging real property received
by, or acknowledged before, them. Insurance companies, whenever
requested, shall furnish in each particular case to the provincial
assessor copies of any contract or policy of insurance on buildings,
structures, and improvements insured by them which may be necessary for
the proper assessment thereof.
Section 57. Promulgation of rules by the
secretary of finance. — The Secretary of Finance shall promulgate rules
and prescribe the blank forms to be used and the procedure to be
followed in carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Section 58. Fees in court actions. — All court actions, criminal or
civil instituted by the provincial treasurer or the provincial assessor
under the provisions of this Act shall be exempt from the payment of
court and sheriff's fees.
ARTICLE VII
Penal Provisions
Section 59. Omission of property from tax lists
by officer. — Any officer charged with the duty of assessing real
property, who shall willfully fail to assess, or shall omit from the
tax lists, any real property, which he knows to be lawfully taxable,
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand pesos, or
imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.
Section 60. Government agents delaying filing of
declaration of property and assessment appeals. — Any Government
official who shall intentionally and deliberately delay the filing of a
real property tax declaration or any transfer on the assessment books
of the assessor, or the filing of any appeal against an assessment,
shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than five
hundred pests or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both,
in the discretion of the court.
ARTICLE VIII
Transitory Provisions
Section 61. All forfeitures and tax
delinquencies existing before this Act takes effect shall be governed
by the provisions of law then in force.
ARTICLE IX
Repealing Clause
Section 62. Act Numbered Thirty-nine hundred and
ninety-five, as amended by Acts Numbered Four thousand and sixty-one
and Four thousand two hundred and twenty-two, sections twenty-three
hundred and ninety-three to twenty-four hundred and three, inclusive,
of the Administrative Code, and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed.
Section 63. This Act shall take effect on
January first nineteen hundred and forty.
Approved: June 16, 1939.
Footnotes
1. See Commonwealth Act 534 repealing this proviso.
|