Does a deed of sale have to be notarised?

For land, in practice yes. Article 1358 requires that acts and contracts creating, transmitting, modifying or extinguishing real rights over immovable property appear in a public document, and a public document is one acknowledged before a notary. Registration at the Registry of Deeds is not available on a private document.

Is an unnotarised deed worthless?

Not necessarily void between the parties. Article 1356 says contracts are obligatory in whatever form provided the essential requisites are present. The problem is enforceability and registration: where the law requires a form for validity or enforceability, that requirement is absolute and indispensable, and you cannot register a transfer on a private document.

What if someone signs on the owner's behalf?

Then Article 1874 applies and it is unforgiving: when a sale of a piece of land or any interest in it is through an agent, the authority of the agent shall be in writing, otherwise the sale shall be void. Not voidable. Void.

What kind of written authority is needed?

A special power of attorney naming the act. Article 1878 lists entering into any contract by which ownership of an immovable is transmitted among the 15 acts a general power of attorney cannot cover, and Article 1879 adds that a power to sell excludes the power to mortgage.

What tax attaches to the deed itself?

Documentary stamp tax, at 1.5% of the higher of the selling price or the fair market value for a property sale. The return is filed within 10 days after the close of the month in which the document was made, signed, issued, accepted or transferred.

Does a contract over ₱500 have to be written?

Article 1358 says all other contracts where the amount involved exceeds five hundred pesos must appear in writing, even a private one. That is a general rule for contracts, separate from the public document requirement that applies to real property.

Deed of Absolute Sale: Why It Must Be Notarised

Q: Is a verbal agreement to sell land enforceable?

Article 1403 puts it under the Statute of Frauds, so an agreement is unenforceable by action unless it, or some note or memorandum of it, is in writing and subscribed by the party charged or by their agent. Evidence of the agreement cannot even be received without the writing.

Q: What does the notary have to do afterwards?

Section 135(b) of the Local Government Code requires notaries public to furnish the provincial treasurer with a copy of any deed transferring ownership or title to real property within 30 days from the date of notarisation. So the LGU learns of the sale from the notary.

A deed of absolute sale is the document that actually moves ownership. Everything after it, the taxes, the eCAR, the new title, is administration of what the deed already did.

Which is why the form requirements are strict.

The public document rule

Article 1358 of the Civil Code lists what must appear in a public document, and immovable property leads it:

(1) Acts and contracts which have for their object the creation, transmission, modification or extinguishment of real rights over immovable property.

A public document here means one acknowledged before a notary public. That is the legal reason a deed of sale over land gets notarised, and the practical reason the Registry of Deeds will not register a transfer on a private one.

The same article carries a general rule that catches everything else: all other contracts where the amount involved exceeds ₱500.00 must appear in writing, even a private one.

But an unnotarised deed is not automatically void

This is where people over-correct. Article 1356:

Contracts shall be obligatory, in whatever form they may have been entered into, provided all the essential requisites for their validity are present.

Then the limit, in the same article: where the law requires a form for validity or enforceability, that requirement is absolute and indispensable.

Question	Answer
Binding between the parties?	Potentially yes, if the essential requisites are present
Enforceable by action?	Not where the Statute of Frauds applies and there is no writing
Registrable at the Registry of Deeds?	No

So an unnotarised deed can bind two people to each other and still be useless for producing a title, which is the outcome that matters when the seller later changes their mind or dies.

Article 1403 puts a sale of land under the Statute of Frauds: the agreement is unenforceable by action unless it, or a note or memorandum of it, is in writing and subscribed by the party charged or by their agent. Evidence of the agreement cannot even be received without the writing.

If an agent signs, the rule is absolute

Article 1874 is one sentence and it voids transactions every year:

When a sale of a piece of land or any interest therein is through an agent, the authority of the latter shall be in writing; otherwise, the sale shall be void.

Not voidable at someone’s option. Void.

And a general authority will not do. Article 1878 lists entering into any contract by which ownership of an immovable is transmitted among the 15 acts requiring a special power of attorney, and Article 1879 adds that a special power to sell excludes the power to mortgage. The special power of attorney guide sets out all 15 and the consular route for an owner signing from abroad.

This is the single most common defect in a family land sale, where a relative signs for an owner who is overseas.

What the notary does next

Section 135(b) of the Local Government Code:

Notaries public shall furnish the provincial treasurer with a copy of any deed transferring ownership or title to any real property within thirty (30) days from the date of notarization.

So notarising the deed starts a clock at the LGU independently of anything you file. The transfer tax itself is due within 60 days of execution, at up to 0.5% in a province and 0.75% in a city.

The tax that attaches to the document

Documentary stamp tax is charged on the deed itself, at 1.5% of the higher of the selling price or the fair market value, which is ₱15.00 per ₱1,000.00.

Sale price	DST at 1.5%
₱1,000,000.00	₱15,000.00
₱3,000,000.00	₱45,000.00
₱5,000,000.00	₱75,000.00

Section 200(B) requires the return within 10 days after the close of the month in which the document was made, signed, issued, accepted or transferred. The clock runs from the close of the month, not from the date on the deed.

Capital gains tax of 6% lands on the same base. The documentary stamp tax guide and the capital gains tax guide cover both, and the DST calculator carries the formulas.

Where it sits in the sequence

The deed is step one of six. The transfer of title guide covers the order, the eCAR and the two offices that are required to refuse you without proof the transfer tax was paid.

Where the property is inherited rather than bought, the deed follows a settlement rather than a negotiation, and the extrajudicial settlement guide covers Rule 74.

Where this goes wrong

Treating notarisation as optional paperwork. It is what makes the document a public instrument and therefore registrable.

Assuming an unnotarised deed is void. It may bind the parties and still be unregistrable, which is a different and often worse problem.

Letting a relative sign without written authority. Article 1874 makes that sale void.

Using a general power of attorney. Transmitting ownership of an immovable is on the Article 1878 list.

Counting the DST deadline from the date on the deed. It runs from the close of the month.

Forgetting the notary reports the sale. The treasurer gets a copy within 30 days.