Campaign vs tax delinquents to start at City Hall

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Hall officials and employees who are not paying the right taxes will serve as springboard of the city government’s “Sayaw para sa Buhis” initiative.

Former city treasurer Ofelia Oliva, who heads the Strategic Assessment for Your Assets and Worth (SAYAW) para sa Buhis program, said they will start the campaign against tax delinquents at the City Hall.

“I will start the campaign diri sa City Hall…I will look into the community tax of every employee…if they have paid correctly,” Oliva said.

Oliva said she will look into the community tax of every employee of the city government. She said that government workers should not be paying the P5 basic tax only.

“Dili biya kay P5 ra ang basis…kasagaran basic, P5...how about your salary?” added Oliva.

Oliva explained that an additional community tax of P1 for every P1,000 of income, regardless of whether it comes from business, profession or property but not to exceed P5,000, should be paid to the government. This is provided for under the National Tax Research Center’s journal on community tax.

For husband and wife, each will have to pay the basic P5 but the additional tax will be from their total property owned or the receipts or earnings. She said no one is exempted from paying taxes to the government.

“Tanan gyud atong utingkayon..Walay muduol nga hangyo2x,” Oliva said.

Members of the Task Force Sayaw sa Buhis were instructed to “collect taxes by persuasion”. 

“Kinahanglan, business-friendly ta…Pero kung dili mada’g business-friendly, this is what we call persuasive coercion…Kung dili mada’g persuasive coercion …then the coercion!” Oliva added.

In an interview with The Freeman, Oliva said she has new strategies that she had not done before when she was the city treasurer.

“I have strategies that I have that have not been used before,” said Oliva. These strategies will have to be unfolded as the Sayaw sa Buhis progresses, she added.

According to Oliva, she had already talked to city treasurer Ivy Reyes about the strategies to ensure that they are on the same page.

The city’s newest tax collection initiative was launched last week with Mayor Michael Rama and Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia donating P2,000 each for the program. The tax collection effort hopes to gather enough revenue for the city’s P50 billion annual budget this year.