Valenzuela orders closure of 15 tax delinquent firms

The city government of Valenzuela ordered yesterday the closure of yet another 15 commercial establishments after they were discovered to have failed to pay their taxes while continuing to operate their businesses.

City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian said a sweeping tax mapping effort launched since the start of the year has resulted in the closure of over 50 firms for the same offense.

The mayor said this is not to say that the city has not been hitting their tax collection targets.

He said the city has, in fact, gained a significant amount of surplus that could very well be translated into more efficient and faster delivery of basic services for the city residents.

"We have more than met our self-imposed collection targets. Our tax mapping teams have been doing a really excellent and thorough job," Gatchalian said.

Marither Menia, city information officer, said the teams dispatched by the Office of the Mayor cover some 22 establishments daily.

Some of the oldest delinquent taxpayers date back to the year 2002 and have been dealt with accordingly.

The names of delinquent establishments have been withheld so as not to compromise their businesses even as they gave assurance to settle their obligations.

City Treasurer Evelyn de Guzman told The STAR that in the city government’s drive to increase the revenue take, they have doubled their effort to meet the targets.

She said they switch to the unorthodox "house-to-house" operation if businesses do not get it on the first notice by mail.

De Guzman said they are zeroing in particularly on "big accounts." Their collection, she said, is right on track and expects a 95 percent success rate by year-end based on present returns.

Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) chief Teodora Angeles said they have generated an extra P2 million so far from the current tax mapping operations.

Gatchalian said that the tax mapping, probably the first ever no-nonsense effort, is being made not only to increase the revenue take of the city, but also for the protection of the businesses themselves and the consuming public.

The mayor said that those who fail to pay their taxes or renew their business permits also fail to undergo the regulatory inspection such as for sanitation, waste treatment, fire safety and for likely structural defects, causing potential danger to life and limb of the public.

Gatchalian also added that some establishment owners end up delinquents because they entrust the transaction with fixers.

"More often than not, it is not that they don’t want to pay their taxes. They continue this bad habit of letting others do the transaction for them, to their own detriment in the end. So, my advice for them is not to patronize these fixers. Don’t deal with them," Gatchalian said.

He said processing at the one-stop shop at the air-conditioned Taxpayers’ Lounge will only take from 30 minutes to an hour so this should not be a problem.