Land swap deal Neg Occ to pay P12M in taxes

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — The provincial government of Negros Occidental has to pay P12 million tax to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for the property involved in the Ayala Land, Inc. deal.

This was revealed by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. as he stressed that the tax charged by the BIR covers the more than 4,000-square meter government property in the lease contract between Capitol and Ayala.

Marañon lamented that the BIR is very strict, as he explained that the bureau charges for tax whenever there is a transfer of property.

He further explained that the said property was swapped from the Gonzaga family. "The swapping was done a long time ago but the transfer of the land title to the provincial government was not perfected," the governor pointed out.

He said he already submitted a request to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the appropriation of the P12 million, which will be used as payment to the BIR.

The Capitol and ALI have two contracts: lease and sale.

The provincial government will be getting a total of P750,033,500 from ALI on the Deed of Conditional Sale and P2,754,890,697 as rental fee for 50 years on the Contract of Lease.

The Capitol intends to utilize the proceeds of the sale and lease for its various development projects for the benefit of constituents.

Earlier, both the Capitol and ALI filed separate counterclaims, seeking P50 million and P40.5 million, respectively, in moral and exemplary damages against SM Prime Holdings, Inc. after the latter had sought to nullify the lease and sale contracts between Ayala and the provincial government.  (FREEMAN)