CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government will stand to lose at least P60 million in revenue a year once the cedula is abolished.
This is the reaction of city treasurer Emma Villarete to the proposal of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares to scrap the cedula.
But Mayor Michael Rama said Henares’ proposal can’t be implemented immediately because it needs approval from Congress.
The cedula was first introduced to Filipinos by Spanish colonizers in the 19th century as an identification card.
The Local Government Code allows cities and municipalities to collect community tax from corporations and people aged 18 and above who are employed.
In the city, barangay officials are deputized by the City Treasurer’s Office to collect community taxes from their residents seeking community tax certificates or cedulas.
The barangay has a share of the collections.
Cedula is worth P5 for each individual and P500 for corporations. But it requires additional P1 tax per P1,000 of income and earnings in the preceding year.
But the law provides that additional tax should not exceed P5,000 for individuals, and P10,000 for corporations.
A cedula is needed when one wants to secure official documents such as deeds of sales.
Henares said while the BIR shells out millions for the printing of the Community Tax Certificates (CTCs), the BIR is not gaining a single centavo from the collections. — /LPM (FREEMAN)