Last day to pay business taxes

CEBU, Philippines - City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva said yesterday City Hall will stick to its deadline in the payment of taxes, which will end today.

Hundred of taxpayers crowded the city treasurer’s office yesterday morning to beat the deadline in the payment of business taxes. Oliva urged taxpayers to settle their obligations to avoid penalties for late payments.

“Dili na ta ana oi…mu-penalize dayon ko kay for 20 days na gyud ko diri nga nagsige og huwat kung kanus-a sila moanhi. They must try to catch up with the deadline tomorrow (today),” Oliva said yesterday.

Oliva said her office will conduct tax mapping and will impose a maximum penalty of P5,000 for non-renewal of taxes and P5,000 for non-registration of businesses.

Oliva also warned that the city government will not hesitate to collect back taxes and surcharges from businesses that are found to have been avoiding their obligations to the city.

“Amo gyud nang-computon na ilang wa pa nabayran in the previous years kay we will examine their books of accounts,” Oliva said.

As of January 18, the city treasurer’s office has assessed taxes amounting to P1.1 billion.

So far, the city has collected P125.7 million, which includes the payment of the University of the Visayas and the University of Cebu. The two schools recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the city government for a tax compromise.

Mayor Michael Rama signed the MOA with University of the Visayas Inc. President and Cebu 1st District Rep. Eduardo Gullas on the payment of the school’s accumulated business tax dues amounting to P7.57 million since 2007.

Oliva said UV paid business taxes amounting to P3,784,719.89 and regulatory fees amounting to P60,834. Meanwhile, UC paid business taxes from 2006 to 2009 amounting to P4,124,147.32. The UC-Banilad campus owes the city P10.9 million from 2007 to 2010.

Under the MOA, the UC- Banilad Campus would pay the first installment of half of their taxes from 2007 to 2009 after the MOA gets approved by the City Council and the second installment within the third month following the first payment.

The Council approved the MOA in May last year, which then mayor Tomas Osmeña and UC President Augusto Go signed in June 2010.

The UC-Sanciangko campus also has P5 million in unpaid taxes since last year. In a separate MOA, the city will collect taxes from the campus from 2010 to 2012. – (FREEMAN)