The National Taxation Bureau of Taipei, Ministry of Finance, announced that heirs who have paid their respective shares of estate tax can apply for a “Certificate of Consent to Transfer for Joint Ownership.” This enables them to proceed with the registration of inherited property as joint ownership, preventing the estate from being officially recorded for monitoring by land administration authorities.

The Bureau explained that if a decedent's estate includes real property, but the heirs are unable to jointly pay the estate tax and therefore cannot complete the inheritance registration within the period required by the land administration authority, individual heirs may apply to the National Taxation Bureau to pay their statutory share of the estate tax. After payment, they may request the issuance of a Certificate of Consent to Transfer for Joint Ownership, which can be used to register the inherited property as joint ownership with the land administration authority. However, until all estate tax liabilities have been fully paid, no partition, transfer, alteration, or encumbrance may be registered against the property.

For example, the estate of decedent Mr. A has an inheritance tax liability of NT$4.5 million, with three heirs: spouse Ms. A and children Mr. B and Ms. C. Since the heirs have not reached an agreement on the distribution of the estate and are unable to jointly pay the tax, Ms. A may apply to the National Taxation Bureau to pay her statutory share of one-third (NT$1.5 million, calculated as NT$4.5 million × 1/3) of the estate tax. After payment, she may apply to the Bureau for a Certificate of Consent to Transfer for Joint Ownership to register the inherited real property under joint ownership.

The Bureau would like to issue a reminder that even if some heirs have paid their shares, the entire estate tax remains a joint obligation of all heirs. Any unpaid taxes after the deadline will be subject to enforced collection. Taxpayers are urged to pay on time to protect their rights.

(Contact: Ms. Lee, Head of Collection and Information Management Division; Tel: +886-2-2311-3711 ext. 2140)