Davao City tax revenue up by 22.6%
February 13, 2013 at 09:00am
The city’s tax revenue increased by 22.6 percent based on the total collection in January this year compared to that of the same period last year, city treasurer Rodrigo Riola said. He cited during the regular press conference at the SM City Davao last Monday that from January 2 to 31 this year, the city’s tax revenue amounted to P589,141,208, which was higher by P108,825,715 compared to 2012 figures, which was P480,315,493.
During the same period in 2011, the tax revenue was only P414,710,923, Riola said.
The current amount of tax revenue comprised the payment of business taxes with a total of P466,208,886 and regulatory fees worth P122,932,322, according to Riola.
The regulatory fees, he said, are “too many to mention”, citing permit fees and garbage fee as examples.
He explained that the real estate taxes are not included in the figure, but cited that the gross total real estate taxes collected in 2012 was P886 million.
In Riola’s document with report for January alone, the total number of business permit applications paid was 26,990 this year, 23,791 last year and 22,396 in 2011.
Riola said the city hit its estimated revenue for 2012 with a total of P4.3 billion. For this year, the city government expects to collect P4,568,189,122.
A total of 31,000 business establishments, both old and new, are registered in the city, lawyer Tristan Dwight Domingo, head of the city’s Business Bureau, also said at the press conference.
He added that the increase in tax revenue must be attributed to the employees of both the City Treasurer’s Office and the Business Bureau for being efficient in their duties.
Domingo said the thrusts of the city’s leaders and an efficient processing system of business permits, which was implemented this year, had contributed to a successful tax collection.
He said in an interview earlier the business permit and licensing system in the city is now faster, with fewer steps and can be completed in lesser time.
To reach the estimated tax revenue for the entire year in 2013, Domingo said the city needs further improvement in the business permit processing, particularly by adding the infrastructure set up in the concerned offices.
He said aside from the fact that tax payers are willing to pay, it is also important to provide them the convenience in transacting with government offices.
Riola said penalizing delinquent tax payers also help the city government increase its tax revenue.
Source: Lorie Ann Cascaro/MindaNews
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