BIR: Cebu property boom to boost tax goals

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue in Central Visayas (BIR-13) is banking on Cebu’s property boom to help meet its tax collection target for this year.

Aynie Mandajoyan-Dizon, BIR-13 assistant regional director, said they hoped to hit their goals for this year as real estate and construction businesses continue to thrive in the province.

“We hope to collect from more one-time transactions. We foresee many one-time transactions this year including the sale of condominium units, house and lots, and townhouses, even rentals,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

Dizon said this will be in the form of capital gains taxes and documentary stamp taxes.

In an overview released late last year, Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services said the Metro Cebu real estate market was already very developed and has reached its maturity, although there are still gaps that need to be addressed and where players may take advantage.

The recently approved vertical socialized housing as well as the increase in the price and loan ceiling of economic housing were seen to extend the boom in the residential sector.

New township developments, according to Pinnacle, were also expected to decentralize development from Cebu City while the industrial sector was poised to become a winner as well.

The official recalled how BIR-13 collected P3.1 billion in taxes from the sale of lots at the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City two years ago.

While this boosted the collection of the revenue region in 2015, this was also made as basis for the collection target of P36.3 billion in 2016, which the office failed to meet.

Dizon said they are also optimistic about the hotel and restaurant sectors, which are value-added tax (VAT) payers.

BIR-13 collected P6.3 billion in taxes between January to March this year, up by 18.78 percent, or by P906 million, from P5.4 billion collected during the same period in 2016.

The region, however, was short by P200 million in its collection target for the quarter, said Dizon.

One of the reasons she cited was because 22 big taxpayers that were registered with BIR-13 have been transferred to the Large Taxpayers Service (LTS).

“Had they not been transferred, we could have asked for more from them and we could have reached our target,” said Dizon.

Nonetheless, Dizon said they are optimistic that they will achieve their goals for this year.

BIR-13 has implemented strategies that will ensure this, including the intensive audit of taxpayers and revised zonal values, which is used for imposing capital gains taxes.

For this year, BIR-13 targets to collect P29.3 billion in revenue, adjusted due to the transfer of big taxpayers to the LTS.

With the new target as well as Cebu’s and the region’s thriving real estate industry, BIR-13 can only hope to hit their goals for this year, said Dizon.