CEBU CITY TREASURER’S REMINDER
Owners of business establishments in Cebu City, who need to secure special permits, new or renew or retire their business permits, are encouraged to secure these documents at the earliest time possible.
Cebu City Treasurer Veronica Morilos gave this advice since the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) would not grant any extension to those who would try to secure them after the business permit application deadline.
The filing of business permits in Cebu City for this year started on Jan. 2 and would end on Jan. 26.
Morilos said they had also made it easier for business permit applicants to secure these documents after they removed the requirement for a business tax payments certificate.
“We are expecting a lot of applicants this time compared before, since we have already eliminated a process which is the issuance of busines tax payments certificate,” Morilos told the reporters.
“For me, it’s redundancy to part of the tax payers because they already have the official receipt (OR). The OR is already your proof that you have already paid,” she added.
Morilos said she has received feedbacks that the processing of the certificate has caused the delay in acquiring the permit.
The steps in the application of business permits are still the same only this time, they will not be requiring the business tax payments certificate anymore, Morilos said.
To get the business permit, the first step is to complete the details in the application form. Second, is the evaluation process which will require tax payers to declare their gross sales.
The evaluators will assess the corresponding payments and after settling the amounts, the final step will be at Mayor’s permit section for the printing of the business permit.
The permits can be processed in one day or less, Morilo said.
Based on the records of the CTO, out of the 35,000 tax payers in Cebu City, only about 27,000 to 28,000 are securing the permit in the previous years.
Morilos said she hoped the applicants would increase this year.
By February, she said the CTO would conduct a massive inspection to all the business establishments in the city to look into the establishments that are operating without permits.
The inspection will be conducted on a barangay basis.
When asked if City Mayor has special instructions as to the businesses who were closed down last year, Morilo said they can apply as long as they are permitted by the Mayor.
“To those establishments who were closed by the city government, they can only process their permits if they have already complied with their payments and obligations to the city and if they are permitted to do so,” she said.
An offsite one-stop shop is placed at the Robinson’s Galleria until January 26 from 9 a.m to 6 p.m.
Transactions can also be made on Saturdays except on January 20, the day of the Sinulog procession.