By Anthony Giron IMUS CITY, Cavite – The city gov­ernment approved a tax amnesty ordinance that renders relief for prop­erty and business tax delinquents on payments of summed up interests, surcharges and penalties. Cavite Mayor Emmanuel Leonard Maliksi
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Tax delinquents owed the city gov­ernment some R1.3 billion and officials said the amnesty was as a way to collect the amount from them that can be used, among others, to resolve the city's solid waste management problem and the operation of the newly opened Ospital ng Imus, the first public hospital. Mayor Emmanuel Leonardo Maliksi approved the twin tax ordinances after the city council under Vice Mayor Arnel M. Cantimbuhan passed it in a recent special session. The benchmark local decree was authored by Councilor Raymond S. Arguelles, Ways and Means committee chairman. The ordinance will write-off the interests, surcharges and penalties on accumulated tax due payments. Tax delinquents can now pay the dues in full or in installments within five months this year starting April 1. Taxpayers with delinquencies for the year 2019 and earlier are qualified for the amnesty. The ordinance called on tax de­linquents to coordinate with the City Treasurer Office which was given the task "in the preparation and processing of the privileged amnesty, together with the corresponding related documents by and between the taxpayers and the City Mayor for and behalf of the City Government." The city government and the trea­surer's office has the list of tax delin­quents in the city's 97 barangays. The ordinances (the real property and business tax relief/amnesty) will take effect after the required publication in a newspaper of provincial circulation pursuant to Section 59 of the Local Gov­ernment Code. Arguelles had reported that the tax real property tax delinquents owe the city government R1.157,055,,242.74, and the business tax delinquents about R280 million.