How to Transfer Land Title in Las Pinas City Philippines Year 2020 edition

Transferring of land title in the Philippines could really take a lot of your time, effort, money and of course lots of PATIENCE! I would like to share with you the process that I went through including the expenses I have incurred while transferring the land title under my name.

Just to give you a glimpse of the property that I need to transfer under my name. I acquired a 100sqm lot somewhere in Las Piñas 2 years ago for Php800,000 from a seller (Corporation). We executed a Contract to Sell at that time since it is not yet fully paid. In those two years while paying for the lot, I had a small house built on the lot.

The seller and I agreed that I will pay this via installment. Seller and I agreed that I will be the one who will pay for Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Notary fee of the Deed of Sale, Documentary stamps tax (DST), Transfer tax, Business tax on sale of real property, and other taxes and fees required to transfer the title under my name. So before you buy a property, be clear on who will shoulder these fees because you might be surprised with the fees that needs to be paid before you could really transfer the title under your name.

PREPARING THE DOCUMENTS

If you have complete documents it's easy as a breeze to process this yourself. You can hire a licensed real estate broker if you don't want to go through the hassle. But in my case I opted to process this myself because I want to save that extra cash to spend on taxes, fees, notary, photocopy, certified true copies of documents and so on and so forth. It also pays if you have extra photocopies of the documents and IDs because you will never know when would they require an extra copy.  It would really save you time and money if you have these. Don't forget to bring sign pens as well because this will come in handy during these pandemic times!

• Deed of Absolute Sale 

Since I just completed my payment of the property last September 2020, we have executed the Deed of Sale also on September 2020. It is important to note the notarized date of the Deed of Sale because this is the basis of your deadline for the payment of the following:

• Capital Gains Tax (must be paid within 30 days from the date the Deed of Sale was executed)
• Documentary Stamp Tax (must be paid within 5 days after the close of the month when the Deed of Sale was executed)
• Transfer Tax (must be paid within 60 days from the date the Deed of Sale was executed)

If payment to BIR and City Hall Treasurer Office is not settled on time, you would incur fees and penalties. 

So I received a total of five (5) copies of signed Deed of Sale from the seller and I have it notarized the following day. The Notary public would usually charge 1% of the Contract Price. I paid Php8,000 (Php800,000 x 1%) for the Notary fee. Please note that one (1) original copy of the Deed of Sale will be retained by the Notary Public. I gave one (1) original copy to the seller and I kept the other three (3) original copies which I will be using to file to different government agencies.

Note: Please note that all parties need to sign on all pages of the Deed of Sale. When I filed this to the Registry of Deeds, they noted that the two (2) witnesses did not sign on the 1st page of Deed of Sale. So I was not able to file it on that day and went back the next day to file it complete with the signatures of the 2 witnesses. These technicalities are very important so just be very mindful of these details.

• Special Power of Attorney/Secretary Certificate authorizing the sale 

Since I bought the property from a corporation, the seller gave me a Secretary certificate which indicates that the person I am dealing with is the one authorized to sell the property on behalf of the corporation.  Please also get a photocopy of the ID of the seller because this is also required when you have the Deed of Sale notarized.

• Original copy of Owner's Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) 

This is the Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) provided by the seller and is printed in special bluish green color paper. It is a textured paper and a bit thick than the ordinary paper. This document will be filed together with the other documents at the Registry of Deeds.

• Certified True Copy of Transfer Certificate of Title

Since seller did not provide me this document, I applied for the Certified True Copy of Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) at the Registry of Deeds. I paid a total of Php197.00 for the first 2 pages at the Registry of Deeds. I was able to claim the copy after 2 days. You will need to file one (1) copy for BIR.

• Certified True Copy of Tax Declaration for Land and Improvement 

Since the seller only provided me one copy of Certified True copy of Tax Declaration, I applied for another copy at City Assessor's Office. Each copy costs Php150.00. Since I need Tax Declaration for Land and Improvement, I paid Php300.00 for both.

• Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) of seller and buyer

• Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) - issued by the BIR after payment of CGT, DST and Certification fee (Please see below steps on how to get this).

• Confirmation of Payment of Transfer Tax - issued by Local Treasurer''s Office of Las Pinas Cityhall (Please see below steps on how to get this).

• Realty Tax Clearance - issued by City Assessor's office. I paid Php150.00 for a copy of the clearance. 

Once you already have the complete set of documents, you may now proceed to the following government agencies.

BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE (BIR) RDO 53A

Before you will be issued with Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR),  you need to pay Capital Gains Tax, Documentary Stamp Tax, and Certification fee at the BIR. Ensure if the property subject to sale is under the jurisdiction of RDO 53A. 

If coming from Las Piñas City hall, turn left on L Hernandez Avenue at the front of SM Southmall. After approximately 100 meters, you will see a black opened gate on the left side of the road and that is already RDO53A. You can not park inside the compound but instead you can park beside BIR where there is available parking space. They charge Php20 for the parking fee. To find the exact location you can also use Waze by typing BIR Revenue District Office No. 53A 

At the guard, I was asked to proceed to Counter 1 and presented the following documents:

• One (1) original copy and two (2) photocopies of notarized Deed of Absolute Sale
• One (1) original copy of Special Power of Attorney (SPA)/ Secretary Certificate authorizing the sale
• One (1) certified true copy and two (2) photocopies of Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT)
• One (1) certified true copy and two (2) photocopies of Tax Declaration of Land and Improvement

BIR Representative asked me to fill-up BIR Form 1904 so that they can verify the TIN number of the Seller and the Buyer. I filled-up form BIR Form 1904 on behalf of the seller and another BIR Form 1904 form for myself as the buyer.  He said that once finished, I need to proceed to the verification window and submit BIR Form 1904. Once verified, I went back to BIR Representative (Counter 1) and gave me the computation of how much I will pay for the CGT, DST and Certification fee. I was also asked to fill-up the following forms:  

BIR Form 1606 for the Capital Gains Tax (CGT). It is computed at 6% of Selling price or Zonal value which ever is higher. Since I bought the property at Php800,000 and the zonal value at the time of purchase is Php1,200,000 (100sqm x Php12,000 zonal value), we will use the Php1,200,000 zonal value because that is higher. I paid Php72,000 (Php1,200,000 x 0.06).

BIR Form 2000OT for the Documentary Stamp Tax (DST). It is computed at 1.5% of Selling Price or Zonal value which ever is higher. I paid Php18,000 (Php1,200,000 x 0.015)

BIR Form 0605 for the Certification fee of CAR. Cost of certification is Php100.00

Note: You can refer to this BIR website link for the zonal value of the property.

At that time, these forms were not available at the BIR counter and the guard said that I could go to Salvatierra Nuestro Law Office beside BIR office because they offer services wherein they can print and fill-up these forms for you in triplicate copies.  I paid Php150 for their services and thankful that these types of services are available because I might input wrong information on the fields. In addition, since the form and details are printed using the printer, it looks clean compared to my handwriting.

I signed these BIR forms then I went to Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) just beside the law office to pay for these taxes and fees. At the bank, the guard will ask you to fill-up three BIR Payment slip (for each BIR form).  I paid using my personal cheque and issued 3 different cheques for CGT, DST and payment form.

Once paid, the bank will give you the copy of machine validated payment slips including the BIR forms with stamped received by the bank. I went back to Salvatierra Nuestro Law Office again to have these receipts photocopied because BIR will request for an extra photocopy.

I went back to the BIR office and submitted these documents to CAR Counter including the photocopy of receipts. They reviewed the submitted documents and waited for my name to be called. Once everything is ok, they gave me a claim stub and asked me to record the phone numbers posted on the counter window so that I can follow up if CAR is available. According to them, CAR is normally available after one (1) week. But since it is pandemic, they mentioned that I can expect it to be released after 2 weeks.  

After several follow-ups, I was able to receive my Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) after three (3) weeks. They released the following documents to me:

1. Original and Duplicate copy of Certificate Authorizing Registry (CAR)
2. Original Deed of Sale with BIR stamped at the back duly signed 
3. Original Returns with receipts of BIR Form 1606, 2000OT, 0905

LOCAL TREASURER'S OFFICE AT LAS PIÑAS CITY HALL

Another requirement to transfer the title under your name is you need to pay for the Transfer tax at the Treasurer's Office in Las Piñas City hall before you will be issued the Confirmation of Payment of Transfer tax. 

You need to present the photocopy of the following:

1. Deed of Absolute Sale, Donation, Judicial/Extra-Judicial Settlements, Others (if foreclosed property, Certificate of Sale)
2. Updated Tax Declaration
3. Certificate of No Improvement (if lot only)
4. Real Property Tax Clearance (Current Year)
5. Transfer Certificate of Title (or CCT if condominium)
6. License/City tax - Tax on Sale of Real property

I paid Transfer tax amounting to Php6,600 which is 0.825% of selling price (Php800,000 x 0.00825).

I also paid for the Business tax of the seller amounting to Php5,500 which is 0.6875% of selling price (Php800,000 x 0.006875). Please note that this is normally paid by the seller.

I also paid Php75.00 for the Secretary's fee on Confirmation.

Once you have paid the taxes and fees, you will be issued a Confirmation of Payment in three copies on the same day: Taxpayer's copy (White), Registry of Deeds' Copy (Pink) and Assessor's Copy (green).

REGISTRY OF DEEDS

You can already submit the requirements so that Title will be released under your name. Please note that the documents you need to submit should be all original copy:

• Written Authority to register if the presenter is not the Buyer/seller, with photocopy of ID
• Deed of Sale with BIR stamped at the back duly signed.  Each page must be signed by the parties: Buyer, Seller, Lawyer and 2 witnesses

• Secretary Certificate if Buyer/Seller is a Corporation
• Special Power of Attorney if executed on behalf of the party (Authenticated by Consul if acknowledged before the Notary Public Abroad)
• Articles of incorporation if vendee/grantee is a corporation (Certified true copy of from SEC)

• Owner's Original Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT)
• Confirmation of Payment of Transfer Tax (Pink copy) from City Treasurer's Office
• Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) with BIR receipt from BIR RDO 53A 
• Tax Declaration of House and Lot from City Assessor's Office
• Realty Tax Clearance/Amilyar from City Assessor's Office (must be updated for the current year)
• Articles of Incorporation if buyer is a Corporation

Please note that if lot only, you need to present the Certificate of No improvement or Certificate of Management, if condominium. If a party is from abroad, Special Power of Attorney should be consolorized with red ribbon.

A representative from Registry of Deeds checked if my documents are complete and I was asked to fill-up the Registration application form. I proceeded to another lane for the entry of the details to their system. They will print the details and I was asked to review if there's any correction.  Please thoroughly review the information because these will be the same details that will be reflected in the Certificate Transfer of Title. 

Once review has been done and signed the printed form that it is accurate, you will be asked to go to the cashier to pay for the registration fee. I paid a total of Php8,633.47 which includes registration fee, IT services fee, entry fee, legal research fund etc. A representative told me that Transfer Certificate of Title is already available after one (1) month. You just need to present your claim stub and receipt to get your new TCT.

CITY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE

Once you have received your Transfer Certificate of Title under your name, you may now proceed to apply for the issuance of Tax Declaration under your name.  You need to submit the following:

• Transfer Certificate of Title under the name of the new owner (Certified photocopy)
• Deed of Sale / Donation / Exchange Certificate of Consolidation / Extrajudicial with publication (photocopy)
• Photocopy of Current Realty Tax with Tax clearance
• Photocopy of Certificate Authorizing Registry (CAR) and Capital Gains Tax Receipt
• Confirmation of Payment of Transfer tax (Assessor's copy) from City Treasurer's Office
• Photocopy of Transfer Tax Official Receipt
• Photocopy of Garbage Fee Receipt
• Photocopy of Segregation plan for partition lot
• Picture of Property (colored) 3R
• Presentor ID (xerox copy)

I paid Php225 for the processing fee per tax declaration.  I received the tax declaration under my name on the same day I submitted the above documents.

So to summarize all the taxes and expenses that I spent, here is the breakdown.  I am giving these breakdown so you will have an idea how much are you going to spend.  Please note that not all these expenses are shouldered by the buyer. It will all depends who will shoulder these based from the negotiations when you bought the property.  I have agreed from the very start that I will be shouldering all the taxes, fees and expenses.