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AAC Tax Code.

The National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 as it currently stands — consolidated by the firm to carry the TRAIN Law, the CREATE Act, the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, the VAT on Digital Services Act, CREATE MORE, the CMEPA and the amendatory laws in force to 1 August 2026, with a footnote at every provision naming the law that changed it.

Text current as at 1 August 2026. This is an unofficial consolidation prepared by the firm and not the official text of the Code. Repealed provisions are kept, struck through, so that references in earlier records stay traceable.
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The printed edition runs to 240 pages and carries the same text, footnotes and references as the browser below. Every section here shows the page it sits on in that PDF, so a citation taken from the screen matches the one taken from the book.

TITLE III — ESTATE AND DONOR’S TAXES › CHAPTER I. ESTATE TAX

SEC. 86. Computation of Net Estate

Page 69 of the PDF edition

For the purpose of the tax imposed in this Chapter, the value of the net estate shall be determined:

(A) Deductions Allowed to the Estate of a Citizen or a Resident.110 — In the case of a citizen or resident of the Philippines, by deducting from the value of the gross estate —

(1) Standard Deduction. — An amount equivalent to Five million pesos (P5,000,000).111

(2) For claims against the estate: Provided, That at the time the indebtedness was incurred the debt instrument was duly notarized and, if the loan was contracted within three (3) years before the death of the decedent, the administrator or executor shall submit a statement showing the disposition of the proceeds of the loan.

(3) For claims of the deceased against insolvent persons where the value of decedent’s interest therein is included in the value of the gross estate.

(4) For unpaid mortgages upon, or any indebtedness in respect to, property where the value of decedent’s interest therein, undiminished by such mortgage or indebtedness, is included in the value of the gross estate, but not including any income tax upon income received after the death of the decedent, or property taxes not accrued before his death, or any estate tax. The deduction herein allowed in the case of claims against the estate, unpaid mortgages or any indebtedness shall, when founded upon a promise or agreement, be limited to the extent that they were contracted bona fide and for an adequate and full consideration in money or money’s worth. There shall also be deducted losses incurred during the settlement of the estate arising from fires, storms, shipwreck, or other casualties, or from robbery, theft or embezzlement, when such losses are not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, and if at the time of the filing of the return such losses have not been claimed as a deduction for the income tax purposes in an

income tax return, and provided that such losses were incurred not later than the last day for the payment of the estate tax as prescribed in Subsection (A) of Section 91.

(5) Property Previously Taxed. — An amount equal to the value specified below of any property forming a part of the gross estate situated in the Philippines of any person who died within five (5) years prior to the death of the decedent, or transferred to the decedent by gift within five (5) years prior to his death, where such property can be identified as having been received by the decedent from the donor by gift, or from such prior decedent by gift, bequest, devise or inheritance, or which can be identified as having been acquired in exchange for property so received:

One hundred percent (100%) of the value, if the prior decedent died within one (1) year prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death;

Eighty percent (80%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than one (1) year but not more than two (2) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death;

Sixty percent (60%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than two (2) years but not more than three (3) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death;

Forty percent (40%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than three (3) years but not more than four (4) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death; and

Twenty percent (20%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than four (4) years but not more than five (5) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death.

These deductions shall be allowed only where a donor’s tax or estate tax imposed under this Title was finally determined and paid by or on behalf of such donor, or the estate of such prior decedent, as the case may be, and only in the amount finally determined as the value of such property in determining the value of the gift, or the gross estate of such prior decedent, and only to the extent that the value of such property is included in the decedent’s gross estate, and only if in determining the value of the estate of the prior decedent, no deduction was allowable under paragraph (5) in respect of the property or properties given in exchange therefor. Where a deduction was allowed of any mortgage or other lien in determining the donor’s tax, or the estate tax of the prior decedent, which was paid in whole or in part prior to the decedent’s death, then the deduction allowable under said Subsection shall be reduced by the amount so paid. Such deduction allowable shall be reduced by an amount which bears the same ratio to the amounts allowed as deductions under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (6) of this Subsection as the amount otherwise deductible under said paragraph (5) bears to the value of the decedent’s estate. Where the property referred to consists of two or more items, the aggregate value of such items shall be used for the purpose of computing the deduction.

(6) Transfers for Public Use. — The amount of all bequests, legacies, devises or transfers to or for the use of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, or any political subdivision thereof, for exclusively public purposes.

(7) The Family Home. — An amount equivalent to the current fair market value of the decedent’s family home: Provided, however, That if the said current fair market value exceeds Ten million pesos (P10,000,000),112 the excess shall be subject to estate tax.

(8) Amount Received by Heirs Under Republic Act No. 4917. — Any amount received by the heirs from the decedent’s employee113 as a consequence of the death of the decedent-employee in accordance with Republic Act No. 4917: Provided, That such amount is included in the gross estate of the decedent.

(B) Deductions Allowed to Nonresident Estates. — In the case of a nonresident not a citizen of the Philippines, by deducting from the value of that part of his gross estate which at the time of his death is situated in the Philippines:

(1) Standard Deduction. — An amount equivalent to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000).114

(2) That proportion of the deductions specified in paragraph (2), (3), and (4) of Subsection (A) of this Section which the value of such part bears to the value of his entire gross estate wherever situated;115

(3) Property Previously Taxed. — An amount equal to the value specified below of any property forming part of the gross estate situated in the Philippines of any person who died within five (5) years prior to the death of the decedent, or transferred to the decedent by gift within five (5) years prior to his death, where such property can be identified as having been received by the decedent from the donor by gift, or from such prior decedent by gift, bequest, devise or inheritance, or which can be identified as having been acquired in exchange for property so received:

One hundred percent (100%) of the value, if the prior decedent died within one (1) year prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift, within the same period prior to his death;

Eighty percent (80%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than one (1) year but not more than two (2) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death;

Sixty percent (60%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than two (2) years but not more than three (3) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death:

Forty percent (40%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than three (3) years but not more than four (4) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death; and

Twenty percent (20%) of the value, if the prior decedent died more than four (4) years but not more than five (5) years prior to the death of the decedent, or if the property was transferred to him by gift within the same period prior to his death.

These deductions shall be allowed only where a donor’s tax, or estate tax imposed under this Title is finally determined and paid by or on behalf of such donor, or the estate of such prior decedent, as the case may be, and only in the amount finally determined as the value of such property in determining the value of the gift, or the gross estate of such prior decedent, and only to the extent that the value of such property is included in that part of the decedent’s gross estate which at the time of his death is situated in the Philippines; and only if, in determining the value of the net estate of the prior decedent, no deduction is allowable under paragraph (2) of Subsection (B) of this Section, in respect of the property or properties given in exchange therefor. Where a deduction was allowed of any mortgage or other lien in determining the donor’s tax, or the estate tax of the prior decedent, which was paid in whole or in part prior to the decedent’s death, then the deduction allowable under said paragraph shall be reduced by the amount so paid. Such deduction allowable shall be reduced by an amount which bears the

same ratio to the amounts allowed as deductions under paragraphs (1) and (3) of this Subsection as the amount otherwise deductible under paragraph (2) bears to the value of that part of the decedent’s gross estate which at the time of his death is situated in the Philippines. Where the property referred to consist of two (2) or more items, the aggregate value of such items shall be used for the purpose of computing the deduction.

(4) Transfers for Public Use. — The amount of all bequests, legacies, devises or transfers to or for the use of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines or any political subdivision thereof, for exclusively public purposes.

(C) Share in the Conjugal Property. — The net share of the surviving spouse in the conjugal partnership property as diminished by the obligations properly chargeable to such property shall, for the purpose of this Section, be deducted from the net estate of the decedent.

(D) Tax Credit for Estate Taxes Paid to a Foreign Country. —

(1) In General. — The tax imposed by this Title shall be credited with the amounts of any estate tax imposed by the authority of a foreign country.

(2) Limitations on Credit. — The amount of the credit taken under this Section shall be subject to each of the following limitations:

(a) The amount of the credit in respect to the tax paid to any country shall not exceed the same proportion of the tax against which such credit is taken, which the decedent’s net estate situated within such country taxable under this Title bears to his entire net estate; and

(b) The total amount of the credit shall not exceed the same proportion of the tax against which such credit is taken, which the decedent’s net estate situated outside the Philippines taxable under this Title bears to his entire net estate.

Amendment notes

  1. TRAIN Law, sec. 23 — amended. Subsection 86(D), on miscellaneous provisions, was withdrawn.
  2. TRAIN Law, sec. 23 — amended. The named deductions for actual funeral expenses, judicial expenses of testamentary or intestate proceedings, and medical expenses were withdrawn.
  3. TRAIN Law, sec. 23 — amended. The threshold had been P1,000,000.
  4. TRAIN Law, sec. 23 — amended. The threshold had been P1,000,000, and the barangay captain’s certification of the family home, formerly a condition of the deduction, was withdrawn.
  5. The word here should read ‘employer’. It appears to have been changed inadvertently by TRAIN Law, sec. 23.
  6. TRAIN Law, sec. 23 — inserted.
  7. TRAIN Law, sec. 23 — amended.
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