Cebu City Council passes tax amnesty ordinance

Delinquent real property and business owners can soon find tax relief after the Cebu City Council passed on third reading the Tax Amnesty Ordinance on Friday, August 14, 2020. | CDN Digital  file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has passed in third reading the Tax Amnesty ordinance which would provide tax relief to delinquent taxpayers of real property taxes (RPT) and business taxes from the year 2019 and before.

Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, the main proponent of the ordinance, said this would increase the tax collection of the city this year since the amnesty would encourage the delinquent taxpayers to clear off their taxes while the amnesty was in effect.

This is also a form of help to the taxpayers since the pandemic may have reduced their income.

“Today, the city councilors crossed party lines and approved in mass motion my ordinance granting amnesty to taxpayers on interest, penalties, and surcharges arising from their failure to pay real property taxes, business taxes, and all other fees and charges due and demandable,” he said.

In the Tax Amnesty ordinance, the delinquent taxpayer has two ways to pay off the penalty including paying off all basic taxes they owed up until 2019 in a one-time payment.

A one-time payment would mean waiving all penalties incurred in the years of the delinquency. They must pay on or before December 2020.

The second option would be for the taxpayer to sign up in a payment plan, and the establishment will pay only 10 percent penalty for the years of delinquency.

The 10 percent will be taken from the basic tax of the year of delinquency. The establishment must also pay a downpayment of 25 percent of the amount they owe to the city government

Garcia said in the special session of the City Council on August 14, 2020, that the ordinance was a collaboration of the council members since all members helped formulate it with their inputs.

The long-awaited ordinance was passed en masse by the council and is now awaiting the signature of Mayor Edgardo Labella to be implemented./dbs