Urban property tax reform : the case of the Philippines' real property tax administration project

The property tax is the most widely used municipal revenue source in the developing world. This case study is the first of two proposed studies of major property tax reforms in developing countries. (The report on the second case, Brazil, will be issued separately.) The two studies will be the basis for a guideline paper on urban property tax reform. This case is intended to provide two kinds of lessons : the first concerning property tax systems and procedures, and the second concerning project design and implementation. The case study was nationwide in scope, as such, it addressed one of the traditional constraints on large-scale property tax reform : the decentralized nature of the administrative aspects of property taxation. In packaging technical assistance for implementation on a large scale, the case provides lessons for governments and international development agencies that are attempting reforms of a similar scope.