City dad objects to tax cut ahead of bonus

CEBU City Councilor Sisinio Andales objected to the P20,000 income tax deduction he got this month, saying it was imposed even before he received his Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) of one-month’s salary.

In a privilege speech, Andales said the City Accounting Office should stop doing a similar computation on salaries of City Hall employees .

“The accounting department preempted the move by the City Council in approving the PEI which until now is still hanging…This is not  due process. This is highly illegal, unlawful,” Andales said in his speech.

Councilor Mary Ann De Los Santos agreed.

“It’s not a realized income yet. Out of courtesy, it’s unacceptable and illegal to do such an act,” she said.

But City Accountant Mark Salomon said it’s the council’s payroll maker that decides on the deductions.

“For us, we don’t have a hold on that, aside from just recording the deduction,” Salomon said in a phone interview.

Salomon said the council should ask their payroll maker aobut the deductions.

Budget

He said those affected by the additional tax are those elected officials and employees with a monthly salary of at least P40,000.

He said the payroll maker should have coordinated with his office in order to be clarified that the PEI hasn’t been released yet.

The proposed P78 million allocation for PEI of all Cebu City Hall officials and employees is included in the pending P3.32 billion Supplemental Budget 1 for this year.

The council’s budget and finance committee said they will just approve the items that were cleared already and exclude those that are still questionable.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, who chairs the budget committee, said they will already forward the deliberated SB1 to the council for approval next week.