1) Exemption from Registration Fees of Certain Entities and/or Transactions; 2) Payment of LARES I.T. Fees

October 26, 2010

LRA CIRCULAR NO. 22-10

 

WHEREAS, this Authority has received so many requests for exemption from payment of registration fees and LARES IT service fees from government entities and for certain transactions;

WHEREAS, it is now imperative to come up with a uniform guideline for the guidance of the Registries nationwide to avoid confusion;

WHEREFORE, the following guidelines are hereby adopted:

A. For the payment of Registration Fees, the following entities/transactions are hereby exempted, to wit:

1. Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) — (Sec. 33 PD No. 146);

2. Social Security System (SSS) — (PD No. 24; LRC Cir. 226 S. 1973);

3. Philippine Amanah Bank for loans extended up to P5,000 — (PD 1403; LRC Cir. 302 S. 1976);

4. Rural Banks of the Philippine — for all loan transactions not exceeding P10,000 — (PD 720; LRC Cir. 331 S. 1978);

5. Rural Banks with net assets not exceeding ONE MILLION PESOS — (RA-12 as amended by RA-5939; LRC Cir. 262 S. '75);

6. National Power Corporation — (RA 987; LRC Cir. 159);

7. Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) — (P.D. 338, LRC Cir. 256 S. '74);

8. Transactions pursuant to the implementation of CARP (Secs. 66 and 67, RA 6657; E.O. 229; LRC Cir. Nos. 266 and 284 Series of 1975; LRA Circular Nos. 12, 35 and 36 Series of 2005; Sec. 105 P.D. No. 1529);

9. Loan transactions under the Code of Agrarian Reform — (Sec. 116, RA No. 3844);

10. All documents, certificates, papers covering sale of delinquent property in favor of the Province or City — (Sec. 101, PD 464); prcd

11. All documents or contracts executed by or in favor of the National Housing Authority — (RA 3463; LRC Cir. 383 S. 1980);

12. Cooperative Code of the Philippines (Art. 62, RA 6938); n

13. Transactions pursuant to Urban Development Housing Act/National Housing Authority (Sections 19 and 25, RA 7279, LRA Circ. No. 46 dtd. July 16, 1992 and LRA Circ. No. 1-2004 dtd. Jan. 26, 2004);

14. National Electrification Administration Decree (Section 41, RA 6038).

15. All such other entities, which by its charter/law and transactions specifically allowed by law to be exempted from registration fees.

 The above enumeration is not all inclusive, and what are generally exempted under the above enumerated laws are the following:

a) registration fees for registration of any deeds, instrument, paper or document drawn in connection with conveyance, transfer or loan transaction; and

b) issuance and registration of titles, patents, certification and documents arising from such transaction.

 In contemplation of PD 1529 (Property Registration Decree), these fees, which are payable to the Clerk of Court, the Sheriff, the Register of Deeds and the Land Registration Authority in the course of the proceedings for the registration of titles under the "Torrens systems" are for services actually rendered.(Maurice F. Loewenstein vs. H. C. Page, Registrar of Deeds of the Sub-Province of Benguet, G.R. No. 5599, March 22, 1910)

 For those transactions not covered by the above-enumeration, the Registrar of Deeds are directed to require any party requesting for exemption to present legal basis that would allow such exemption. This is consistent with the generally accepted principle that exemptions are never presumed, the burden is on the claimant to establish clearly his right to exemption and an alleged grant of exemption will be strictly construed and cannot be made out of inference or implications but must be beyond reasonable doubt.

B) The above exemption shall not apply to LARES IT Service Fees.

 Under Section 1.09 of the Build Own and Operate (BOO) Agreement between LARES and LRA, the latter are entitled to collect IT Fees for the following services, to wit:

1. issuance of decrees and certificates of title;

2. registration of land titles and deeds;

3. issuance of true copies and verification of subdivision plans, etc.;

4. approval of subdivision, consolidation, subdivision-consolidation plans;

5. registration of patents;

6. certification of status of plans/lots; and

7. legal query and consulta.

These fees are service fees collected by LARES for services rendered in connection with the computerization project, the basis of which is the BOO Agreement pursuant to R.A. No. 6957 as amended by R.A. No. 7718.

The exemptions provided under the aforecited laws do not apply to LARES IT Fees because the services rendered therein are being rendered by a private corporation (Province of Pangasinan v. Palisoc, 6 SCRA 299). The exemption granted under the above-enumerated laws may not be unduly stretched to include exemption from the payment of said I.T. Fees being collected by LARES, a private proponent in the BOO Agreement without violating its proprietary rights. aAHDIc

Strict compliance is hereby enjoined.

(SGD.) EULALIO C. DIAZ IIIAdministratorLand Registration Authority

n Note from the Publisher: Written as "6939" in the original document.