In the Survivorship Agreement, the joint depositors cannot withdraw any portion

of the said deposit account without the consent of the other. However, upon deat
h of any of them, the whole amount of the funds shall belong to the surviving co
-depositor/s, and may forthwith be withdrawn by the latter. The said provision c
ontained in the agreement is valid and binding between the joint depositors but
it has an effect of a gift or donation mortIs causa made by the deceased co-depo
sitor during his lifetime but effective upon death because the acquisition by th
e survivor of the share of the decedent in the joint account is considered to be
acquired by bequest and hence subject to estate tax under Section 84 of the 199
7 Tax Code.
Considering that the joint account is co-owned by the depositors, there is a pre
sumption that they owned it equally or in 50/50 shares, in which case, the trans
fer of the remaining balance of the whole deposit to the surviving co-depositor/
s upon death of the other co-depositor pursuant to their Survivorship Agreement
is a transfer made by the said depositor in contemplation of death, as provided
under Section 85(B) of the 1997 Tax Code.
Thus, upon the death of the co-depositors, the 50% share of the deceased co-depo
sitor in the deposit shall be included in computing the value of his gross estat
e.
Hence, the funds in the joint deposit account cannot be withdrawn by the survivi
ng co-depositor/s unless the Commissioner has certified that the taxes imposed t
hereon by Title III of the 1997 Tax Code have been paid; Provided, however, That
the administrator of the estate or any one (1) of the heirs of the deceased codepositor may, upon the authorization by the Commissioner, withdraw an amount no
t exceeding Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) without the said certification.