QC urges early tax settlement

The Quezon City government is reminding real property owners to settle their tax obligations on or before the deadline for the payment of the first installment of real property taxes on March 31 to avail tax discounts.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also reminded owners of business establishments they have until tomorrow to pay the first installment of their business taxes to avoid penalty.

Business Permit and License Office (BPLO) records showed that there are 55,000 business establishments in Quezon City.

Belmonte reiterated the city government will not grant amnesty on tax delinquencies. He said experience from the previous administration showed that tax amnesty failed to curb tax delinquencies in Quezon City.

Real property owners who pay their tax on or before the March 31 deadline are granted 20 percent discount as incentive, by virtue of a city ordinance authored by councilors Victor Ferrer Jr. and Alma Montilla.

Meanwhile, BPLO officer-in-charge and assistant city administrator for internal affairs Pacifico Maghacot Jr. said the BPLO and the Taxpayers’ Lounge, located on the second floor of the City Hall main building and the Taxpayers’ Assessment Lounge at the City Hall annex building will be open today to accommodate taxpayers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Maghacot proposed that applications submitted before the deadline should be issued temporary permits.

Recently, the Quezon City Council passed two ordinances, certified by the mayor as urgent, granting amnesty on undeclared machineries and discounts on business taxes which lowered the tax rates in the city.

However, Belmonte said what matters most is for businessmen to know that the city government is determined to be business friendly.

The grant of discounts on business taxes covers franchise holders and retailers, who will get as much as a 60 percent discount during the first year of the measure’s implementation.

Quezon City treasurer Victor Endriga said with the revised business tax, the city expects to lose some P500 million.

However, he expressed optimism that the amount can be made up with the projected collection on delinquent real property taxes.

The city collected a record P5.3 billion in revenues last year and expects a 30 to 40 percent tax collection annually until 2004.