TAXES. Taxes are the lifeblood of the government that allows it to provide service to the public like this smart communication system donated by the city government to the Baguio City Police Office that ensures faster response time to save lives or prevent the commission of a crime. The city government has vowed to intensify its collection efforts on taxpayers to meet or exceed its collection target this year. (PNA file photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – The city government is optimistic about hitting or exceeding its PHP2.28-billion tax collection target for this year as it intensifies efforts to collect at least PHP104.2 million until next month.
"This (PHP104.2 million shortfall) can still be collected in the last days of the year with many residents having the practice of paying real property taxes (RPT) earlier than the start of the year to be able to avail of the 20-percent discount,” city treasurer Alex Cabarrubias said in an interview on Wednesday.
Ordinance 001-2000 provides an automatic 20-percent discount to those paying RPT early, or the payment is done before January of the following year.
The city's revenue collections come from local and external sources emanating from tax and non-tax revenues, as well as from external sources like the national tax allocation (NTA), share from the operation of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in Loakan, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and other shares from the national government.
The city also collects tax revenue from individuals and corporations, goods and services and other taxes aside from fines and penalties.
Non-tax revenue is composed of service income, business income and miscellaneous income.
Cabarrubias recently issued an advisory reminding real property owners in Baguio to pay their 2-percent basic RPT and an additional 1 percent Special Education Fund (SEF) for the year 2023.
"When the current real property tax and additional levy for the SEF are paid in full for the whole year before January 2023, the taxpayer shall be entitled to an advanced payment discount of 20 percent. When paid in full between January and the end of March, a 10-percent discount shall be granted based on the ordinance," he said.
The real property tax paid on a quarterly scheme will be granted a 10-percent discount on the amount of tax due if paid in full within the quarter. (PNA)
