How to Use the RPT Calculator: Know Your Amilyar Before You Pay
A step-by-step guide to the free Real Property Tax Calculator on this site, with worked examples, and the lessons every property owner should know about discounts, interest and where the money goes.
Every January, the same question reaches the treasury counter: "Magkano po ang amilyar ko?" How much is my real property tax? The answer usually ends up as one number on an official receipt. Behind that number, though, are rules that most property owners never see: how the tax is computed, why paying early saves money, why paying late costs more every month, and where each peso goes after you pay.
I built the Real Property Tax Calculator on this website to put those rules in plain view. It is free, it works on a phone, and nothing you type leaves your browser. This guide walks you through it step by step, with three worked examples and the lessons every property owner should know.
What the Calculator Does
On a single screen, the calculator works out four things:
The tax for the year. The basic real property tax plus the Special Education Fund (SEF) tax.
The discount or the interest. Based on the date you pay, worked out quarter by quarter.
The amount to pay. The figure you would bring to the treasurer's office.
Who gets what. How your payment is shared by the province, the municipality, the barangay and the local school boards.
It follows the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160) and has the Quezon Provincial Revenue Code of 2022 built in. For a property in a Quezon municipality, it fills in the assessment level and the discount for you. Elsewhere, you type in the rates from your local ordinance.
Before You Start: Find Your Tax Declaration
The most useful paper for this exercise is your tax declaration, often called the TD. The assessor's office issues one for each piece of land, building or machinery. It shows the property's class (residential, agricultural, commercial or industrial), its market value and its assessed value. If you do not have a copy, ask the assessor's office how to get one.
The number that matters most is the assessed value. Real property tax is not charged on what your property would sell for. It is charged on the assessed value, which is the market value multiplied by an assessment level that the local ordinance sets for each class of property. For a residential lot in Quezon Province, the assessment level is 5%. So a lot with a market value of ₱500,000 has an assessed value of only ₱25,000, and that smaller figure is the one that gets taxed.
Step 1: Tell It Where the Property Is
Choose one of three: a municipality in Quezon Province, a municipality in another province, or a city. This choice sets the highest basic rate allowed (1% in a province, 2% in a city) and decides how the money is shared. If you choose a city, you can also type its number of barangays to see each one's share.
Step 2: Enter the Assessed Value
If your tax declaration shows the assessed value, choose "I know the assessed value" and type it in. That is the most accurate route.
If you only know the market value, choose "Compute it from the market value." For Quezon Province, pick the kind of property (land, building, machinery or special class) and its use, and the calculator fills in the assessment level from Section 25 of the provincial code. Buildings deserve a closer look, because their level rises with their value. In Quezon, a residential building worth ₱175,000 or less has an assessment level of 0%, while one worth ₱1.5 million falls in the 25% bracket. You can always change the level by hand if your own ordinance says something different.
Step 3: Check the Tax Rates
The calculator starts with a basic rate of 1% for municipalities and 2% for cities, plus 1% for the Special Education Fund. These are the highest rates the Local Government Code allows. Quezon Province charges the full 1% basic tax and the 1% SEF. Each city sets its own basic rate, up to 2%, so if your city charges less, type the lower rate.
For our ₱25,000 lot in Quezon, that means a basic tax of ₱250 and an SEF tax of ₱250, or ₱500 for the year.
Step 4: Enter the Tax Year and the Date of Payment
This is where the calculator does its best work. The year's tax is split into four equal quarters, due on or before March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The calculator compares your payment date with each due date and decides, quarter by quarter, whether you earn a discount or owe interest.
Three Ways to Pay the Same ₱500
Let us take the same residential lot in a Quezon municipality: market value ₱500,000, assessed value ₱25,000, yearly tax ₱500. Here is what the calculator shows for three different payment habits.
Paid on time. Tax year 2027, all four quarters paid on March 15, 2027. Every quarter is paid on time, so the 10% discount applies. You pay ₱450.
Paid in advance. Tax year 2027, paid in full on September 30, 2026. In Quezon, paying the whole of next year on or before September 30 earns a 15% discount, so you pay ₱425. Pay two or more years ahead and the discount reaches 20%: ₱400 for the year.
Paid late. Tax year 2026, nothing paid until November 20, 2026. The first quarter is eight months late (in Quezon, a part of a month counts as a whole month), so it carries 16% interest. The second quarter is five months late (10%) and the third is two months late (4%). The fourth quarter is not yet due, but there is no discount while the other quarters are late. You pay ₱537.50.
On this small lot, the gap between the best habit and the worst is ₱137.50 a year. It grows with the property. A ₱1.5 million house in Quezon has an assessed value of ₱375,000 and a yearly tax of ₱7,500. Paid two years ahead, it costs ₱6,000. Paid as late as in the third example, it costs ₱8,062.50. That is a difference of more than ₱2,000, every year, for the same house.
The law sets the tax. When you pay decides what it finally costs.
Where Your Money Goes
The "Who gets what" table is the part I most want people to see. Take the on-time payment of ₱450. The basic tax portion, ₱225, is shared by law: 35% (₱78.75) to the province, 40% (₱90) to the municipality, and 25% (₱56.25) to the barangay where the property is. Interest on the basic tax is shared the same way. The SEF portion, another ₱225, goes to the local school boards and is split equally between the provincial and municipal boards, ₱112.50 each.
In a city, the city keeps 70% of the basic tax and the barangays get 30%. Half of that 30% goes to the barangay where the property is, and the other half is shared equally by all the barangays of the city. The city school board keeps the whole SEF.
Your amilyar does not vanish into one big pot. A quarter of the basic tax goes straight to your own barangay, and the SEF supports public schools, from school buildings to books and sports.
Five Lessons Worth Remembering
Early payment pays you back. The law allows a discount of up to 20% for paying early or on time, and each province or city sets its own rates. In Quezon, it is 10% for paying on time, 15% for paying next year's tax by September 30, and 20% for paying two or more years ahead.
Late payment grows every month. Unpaid tax earns interest of 2% a month, for up to 36 months. Left long enough, a tax can grow by as much as 72%.
Older balances are paid first. When you pay, the treasurer applies the money first to unpaid taxes, interest and penalties of earlier years, and only then to the current year. A payment you meant for this year may cover an old balance first. The calculator works out one tax year at a time, so if you have older unpaid years, check each year separately.
The tax is due on January 1. Real property tax falls due on the first day of January, and an unpaid tax stays attached to the property as a lien. If it stays unpaid, the local government can eventually sell the property at public auction to collect it. Paying in installments is allowed; ignoring the bill is not.
New values come with a cap. Under the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (Republic Act No. 12001 of 2024), when a new schedule of market values takes effect, the increase in real property tax in the first year is limited to 6%.
What the Calculator Does Not Cover
No tool covers everything, and I would rather tell you its limits now. The calculator does not include the idle land tax, special levies, or the lower SEF rate for renewable energy property. It does not cover municipalities in Metro Manila, which follow a different sharing rule. It also assumes the property is taxable; exemption claims go to the assessor's office.
Most important, it is a study aid, not an official assessment. Your treasurer's office has the final figure, so use the calculator to understand and plan, then confirm the amount when you pay.
Why I Built It
In more than thirteen years of public finance work, I have seen a few minutes of explanation change a taxpayer's habits. A property owner who understands the bill is more likely to pay on time. A barangay official who knows the barangay's share can plan better. A young couple buying their first lot can budget for the amilyar before it surprises them.
The calculator is my small contribution to that. Try it with your own tax declaration, then try a different payment date. The difference may convince you to visit the treasurer's office a little earlier next year.
Did the calculator match the amount on your last official receipt? If not, tell me what was different so I can improve it. Email me.
