The Iloilo City Government hailed the top taxpayers for advancing their payments to help the city move forward amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Upon my request for advance payment of business and realty taxes, some big taxpayers are helping out the city,” Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said.
Treñas cited Global Business Power Corp (GBP), the biggest independent power producer in the Visayas, for paying on June 5 to the City Treasurer’s Office P147 million representing advance payment of its real property taxes.
The payment includes P109 million from Panay Energy Development Corp.(PEDC) and P38 million from Panay Power Corp.(PPC), two of GBP’s subsidiaries that power the city and the rest of Region 6.
City Treasurer Jinny Hermano said PEDC paid its second-quarter taxes, while PPC paid its dues for the second to fourth quarters.
“It’s really a big help to have a buffer to pay for our obligations. Actually, all are affected, though at least the big taxpayers have capacity to pay. Our problem is that the small and medium enterprises will really find it hard to bounce back because of the effects of COVID-19,” Hermano said.
“So while waiting for the payments of small and medium businesses, at least the big taxpayers have funds provided to us, until such time the smaller ones will be able to pay,” he added.
TAX AMNESTY
Meanwhile, the City Government also offered a tax amnesty to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on City Hall coffers.
Mayor Treñas encouraged tax delinquents to pay their obligations and help City Hall to continue delivering services to Ilonggos.
City Treasurer Hermano said the reprieve may provide relief to those who can’t afford to pay the charges on top of the principal dues.
“When Mayor called for a meeting and got consensus on how to generate funds, one of the suggestions was to pass a Tax Amnesty so we could tap previous ‘sleeping’ payments (receivables). There are taxpayers who might not be able to pay because they have penalties,” Hermano said.
“By passing the Tax Amnesty Ordinance, we will waive the interests and penalties in order for us to help our taxpayers affected by COVID crisis, and at the same time we can generate funds,” he added.
The City Treasurer’s Office is now accepting applications for amnesty.
“The coverage of tax amnesty is interest and penalty of basic real property tax. If you have unpaid dues on December 31, 2019, you can avail of it without paying the interest. They have to present old receipts. Or they provide the name of the property owner, then we will compute their taxes without penalties and interest for 2019 and below (or preceding years),” Hermano said.
“Those who want to avail will only have until October 31, 2020. We have set to generate funds until the third quarter of the year so we can balance our shortfall on income due to the effects of COVID-19. We encourage taxpayers to avail of tax amnesty because it can be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he added. (Iloilo City PIO)
