Paying Real Property Taxes in the Philippines

Owners of land and buildings have to pay Real Property Tax every year. A tax that you can pay annually or quarterly but I have no idea about quarterly since we are going to pay it every year. Last Friday was our first-time experience personally pay our Real Property Tax (RPT) because for the last two years we already issued post-dated checks to our Developer for our RPT. 

We went to our municipal office to pay our RPT, we’re expecting long lines but it took us only a few minutes to pay for it. We just gave our Official Tax Receipt from our Developer and pay the fee. That’s it! 

Note: 
Real Property tax payments are made at the Land Tax Division of the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO).

Requirements: 
Copy of latest Real Property Tax Declaration 
Photocopy of latest Real Property Tax payment/Official Receipt 

Taxes, Fees and Discounts Taxes: 

Basic Real Property Tax = Fair Market Value x Assessment Level x Basic Tax Rate 
Additional Tax (Special Education Fund) = Fair Market Value x Assessment Level x 1.00% 

Fair Market Value: Based on the Schedule of Fair Market Values proposed by the City Assessor and approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. 

 Assessment Level: 

On Land Type /Assessment Level  

Residential / 20% 
Agricultural / 40% 
Commercial / 50% 
Industrial / 50% 

 * Residential 1.5 % 
 * Commercial 2.0% 

Discount and Penalties 

Prompt payment (paid on or before the deadline) - 10% discount on basic tax, SEF 
Advance payment (paid before January of the taxable year - 15% discount on basic tax, SEF 
Failure to pay tax - 2% interest per month on the unpaid amount or fraction thereof, but total interest shall not exceed 36 months Source:

For more information click here 

The discounts depend on where you live but it ranges from 10 to 20% or even higher in some places. The deadline for the discount varies too, it depends on where you live, some places until January only while other places until March. And because I want to save money, I want to pay for our RPT every December so I won't miss the discount.