How to Register a Newly Bought Property in

the Philippines
It is very common for an OFW to buy a new
property in the Philippines after a few years of
earning a better income from abroad.
We didnt immediately realized that it is easier to
find a property that you wants to own than to get
it registered in your name after paying a large
sum of money as it does not ends there. Most of
us are not familiar with the whole process of
registering a property to the name of the new
Owner. Here are a few steps that may help you:
STEP 1 -DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE
Anyone between the Seller and Buyer (or their
Lawyers, if any) may prepare the Deed of Sale as
long as it has been executed before and
Notarized by a Notary Public.
NOTES:
a.) If you are a Buyer, let me remind you that
before giving all the money to the Seller be sure
that you got from him some important
documents that you would need in the
registration of the property under your name
such as a copy of his validID, a recent CTC and
TIN or a copy of TIN Car original copy of all Real
Property Tax Receipts in his possession.
b.) If the Seller is a Corporation, you would need
from them a notarized secretarys certificates
containing the resolution of their board of
directors approving the sale and a certificate
from the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) stating that its articles of incorporation
have been registered with the SEC.
STEP 2 CITY ASSESSORS OFFICE (Located
in the City Hall or Municipal Hall)
Secure the following:
a.) Certified True Copy of Tax Declaration (House
and Lot)
b.) Certificate of No Improvement (If property is
vacant lot)
c.) Two Original Copies 1 for BIR and 1 for
Registry of Deeds
STEP 3 LAND TAX DIVISION OF CITY
TREASURERS OFFICE (Located in the City
Hall or Municipal Hall)
Secure the following:
a.) Tax Clearance
Note: In order to obtain a Tax Clearance, the
Seller must pay first all arrears on Property Tax (if
any and must be updated as of document of
sale). Therefore, it is important that you got
hold of the original of the official receipts
evidencing payment by seller of realty taxes of
the current and preceding years, before you gave
him the full payment of the sale.
We had an experience that the Seller was able to
gave us the Property Tax Receipt of the current
year however, upon application of Tax Clearance
it was discovered that the previous five years
was not paid!
STEP 4 BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE
Submit the following:
Tax identification number (TIN) of seller
and buyer;
Notarized deed of absolute sale/document
of
transfer,
but
only
photocopied
document shall be retained by the BIR;
Certified true copy of the latest tax
declaration issued by the City Assessors
Office for the land and improvement
applicable to the taxable transaction;

Owners copy (for presentation purposes

only) and photocopy (for authentication)
of the Original Certificate of Title (OCT), or
the certified true copy of the Transfer
Certificate of Title (TCT);
Sworn declaration of with Improvement
by at least one (1) of the transferees, or
certificate of with Improvement issued
by the City Assessors Office.
You (and/or the Seller, depends on the
agreement) have to pay the following:
a.) Capital Gains Tax (6% for individual seller) or
Witholding Tax (7.5% if seller is a corporation) it
is the Sellers responsibility to pay the Capital
Gains Tax (CGT) or Witholding Tax unless the
Buyer agrees otherwise
b.) Documentary Stamps Tax (1.5% of the selling
price or zonal value or fair market value, which
ever is higher) Payment for DST is responsibility
of the Buyer
You shall received the following:
The Certificate Authorizing Registration
The Original copy of the Deed of Absolute
Sale stamped received by the BIR
Original Copies of the BIR Return Forms
1706 (CGT) and 2000 (DST) stamped
received by the BIR
Important Notes:
i.) Capital Gains Tax and Documentary Tax shall
be computed based on Selling Price (per Deed of
Sale), or Market Value of Tax Declaration, or BIR
Zonal Value, whichever is higher.
ii.) If the Buyer agrees to pay the Capital Gains
Tax, it very important that you get the Sellers
Tax Identification Number (TIN) and a copy of his
ID
iii.) Forms for payment of Capital Gains Tax can
be secured from the BIR or may be downloaded
from the BIR website http://www.bir.gov.ph
iv.) Payment for Capital Gains Tax and
Documentary Stamps can only be paid at the BIR
Regional Office or BIR authorized banks where
the property is located. It can be paid either in
cash or managers check.
v.) Capital Gains Tax shall be filed and paid to the
BIR within thirty days from the date of sale,
otherwise there will be interest and penalty.
vi.) Documentary Stamps Tax shall be paid on or
before the 5th day of succeeding month from the
date of sale.
STEP 5 MUNICIPAL TREASURERS OFFICE
(Located in the City Hall or Municipal Hall)
Pay the following:
a.) Transfer Tax is computed as 1/2 of 1% (0.5%)
of the Selling Price or Zonal Value or Fair Market
Value of Tax Declaration, whichever is higher.
Payment of Transfer Tax is responsibility of the
Buyer
NOTES:
i.) The transfer tax must be paid at the CTO not
later than 60 days from the date of execution of
the Deed of Absolute Sale or the notarization
date thereof, whichever is earlier.
ii.) Prepare the following requirements:
Certificate Authorizing Registration from
the Bureau of Internal Revenue
Tax clearance certificate from the
Treasurers Office
Official receipt of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (for documentary stamp tax)
Photocopy of Deed of Sale

Photocopy of Transfer Certificate of Title

(TCT)
Photocopy of Tax Declaration
STEP 5 REGISTRY OF DEEDS (Located in
the City Hall or Municipal Hall)
Pay the following:
a.) Registration Fee 0.25% of the selling price,
or zonal value or fair market value, which ever is
higher. Payment of Registration Fee is
responsibility of the Buyer
Apply for registration and submit the following
documents:
Copy of deed of absolute sale;
Official receipt evidencing payment of
transfer tax;
Certificate Authorizing Registration from
the BIR (CAR) including official receipts for
payment of DST and CGT;
Real property tax clearance from the City
Treasurers Office;
Original copy of owners duplicate of TCT
(in the name of the seller);
Original or certified true copy of the latest
tax declaration;
If Seller is a corporation, include the following:
Notarized
secretarys
certificate
containing resolution of the board of
directors of the seller approving the sale;
Notarized
secretarys
certificate
containing resolution of the board of
directors of the buyer approving the sale;
Articles of incorporation of the buyer and
by-laws; and
Certificate from the SEC that the articles
of incorporation of the buyer have been
registered.
NOTE:
A new Certificate of Title under the New Owners
Name will be issued by Registry of Deeds. Be
sure to double check the spelling of names and
other information in the new TCT before receiving
the new TCT.
STEP
6

MUNICIPAL
ASSESSORS
OFFICE (Located in the City Hall or
Municipal Hall)
Secure the following:
a.) New Tax Declaration
NOTES:
i.) Prepare the following requirements:
Photocopy of notarized deed of sale
Copy of latest tax declaration (in the
name of seller)
Tax clearance certificate of real property
taxes from the CTO
Certificate authorizing registration from
the BIR
Photocopy of official receipt of transfer tax
payment (original copy to be presented)
The transfer certificate of title (TCT)
issued by the RD (in the name of the
buyer)
Hope this helps! Good luck with your transactions
as I tell you, it was not that easy. :-) But if you
have question, please post it below and I will try
my best to answer them.

Every tract of land or property acquired should be

registered with the land registry office. Otherwise,
problems with regard to land ownership and
penalties might occur. A person who lawfully
owns a real estate property is the better owner
than the one who abandons and neglects the
land. To simply put, it is possible for someone to
take a land or property that has already belonged
to others when a piece of territory is not
registered publicly. Find out the following steps on
how to register a newly-bought property in the
Philippines.
Step 1: Prepare the Deed of Sale
The deed of sale is the legal evidence of the
purchase of the land or property.
Requirements:
A buyer should also secure some of the sellers
pertinent documents such as recent CTC, a copy
of TIN and valid IDs.
Step 2: Go to Citys Assessors Office
Function: assesses and prepares real properties
for taxation purposes
Requirements:
>CTC
of
tax
declaration
>certificate of no improvement for vacant lot only
Step 3: Land Tax Division of City Treasurers
Office
Function: collection of real property tax
To obtain tax clearance, the seller must be able to
pay all arrears on property tax not only in the
present year but also in the previous years.
Step 4: Proceed to Bureau of Internal
Revenue
Function: active collection of revenue taxes
Requirements:
>Tax Identification number (seller and buyer)
>Notarized
deed
of
absolute
sale
>CTC of the most recent tax declaration
>certificate of title (original and photocopy)
>certificate of with improvement
What
to
Receive:
>Certificate
authorizing
registration
>original copy of the deed of absolute sale (with
BIR
stamp)
>original copies of BIR return forms (with stamp)
Step 5: Municipal Treasurers Office
Function: manages revenues and cash flows;
were transfer tax is paid (responsibility of the
buyer).
Note: transfer tax should be paid no later than 60
days from the time the Deed of Absolute Sale was
executed.
Requirements:
>Certificate Authorizing Registration (from the
BIR)
>Tax
clearance
certificate
>BIRs official receipt with documentary stamp

tax
>Deed
of
sale
(photocopy)
>Transfer Certificate
of Title
(photocopy)
>Tax declaration (photocopy)
Step 6: Registry of Deeds
Function: processes, finalizes and maintains the
public registration of the land
Note: payment for the registration free is a
responsibility of the buyer, which is 25% of the
selling price.
Requirements:
>Deed
of
absolute
sale
(photocopy)
>Official receipt of payment of transfer of tax
>Certificate Authorizing Registration from BIR
>Real property tax clearance from the Citys
Treasurers
Office
>Transfer
of
Clean
Title
(original)
>CTC of the latest tax declaration

What
to
Receive
-New Certificate of Title (New owners name).
Make sure to double check the spelling of names
and other essential information
Step 7: Municipal Assessors Office
Functions: ensures that laws and policies are
properly maintained and executed in terms of
appraisal of real properties
Requirements:
>New
Tax
Declaration
>Notarized
Deed
of
Sale
(Photocopy)
>Tax
Clearance
Certificate
>Certificate Authorizing Registration (from the
BIR)
>Official receipt of transfer tax payment (original
and
photocopy)
>Transfer of Certificate of Title (from the Registry
of Deeds)