BY CCHINO S. LEYCO Reporter

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said Tuesday that it will run after the heirs and beneficiaries of deceased people so they would pay the proper estate tax.

In a statement, BIR Commissioner Joel Tan Torres said there was a “very low number” of estate tax returns filed with the bureau in the past, resulting in unrealized revenues that run up to several billion pesos.

Data from the National Statistics Office showed that there were more than 1.2 million deaths from 2004 to 2006, but BIR records revealed that only 85,872 estate tax returns were filed from 2007 to 2009.

During those two years, the country’s main revenue-generating agency was able to collect P2.38 billion in estate tax.

Estate tax is imposed on the right of the deceased person to transmit his estate to lawful heirs and beneficiaries.

Tan Torres said the BIR will now monitor proper payment of the estate tax, which has been neglected for many years. Once estate tax is properly monitored, the government could generate about P10.7 billion in revenues.

“From the statistics gathered, it clearly indicates that there is a large potential to increase the number of estate tax returns filed, once these tax potentials are tapped,” he said.

The BIR chief has already issued a revenue memorandum order that would undertake courses of action to closely monitor potential estate tax cases, like establishing linkages with public and private institutions to access information about the deceased.

Under the memorandum order, the Revenue District Office (RDO) is directed to send a notification letter to the family of the deceased, informing them of the requirements and due dates for filing of notice of death, estate tax return and payment of the corresponding tax.

If the surviving family fails to comply with their obligation, then the RDO shall undertake action to determine the estate tax obligation of the deceased.