By Anthony Giron
IMUS CITY, Cavite – The city government has collected at least R10 million from real property and business tax delinquents since the payments started in April.
Imus, Cavite (WIKIPEDIA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Mayor-reelect Emmanuel Leonardo Maliksi is expected to drumbeat the tax amnesty campaign with still four-and-a-half months to go before the deadline.
City Treasurer Manuel Reynold W. de la Fuente confirmed over the weekend that R10,379,687.59 had been collected from 870 delinquents in the last one-and-a-half months.
De la Fuente said the collection had doubled from the R4,997,727.98 that was made by 474 delinquents from April 1 to 17.
The slow progress of delinquent payments was understandable due to the election months, De la Fuente said, adding that he expected the influx of payers just before the deadline.
Under the amnesty, delinquents can pay their dues in full or in installments minus interests, surcharges and penalties from April 1 to September 30 this year.
Officials called on the delinquents to take advantage of the amnesty this year to ease their payment burden, particularly those with accumulated accounts.
Taxpayers with delinquencies for the year 2019 and earlier are qualified for the amnesty.
Councilor-reelect Raymond S. Arguelles, Ways and Means Committee chairman and author of the tax amnesty ordinance, said the delinquents owed the city government over R1.3 billion in back accounts. He said the city administration expected to collect at least R300 million from delinquents.
City officials said the amnesty was as a way to collect the dues from delinquents particularly those made bigger by interests, surcharges, and penalties.
The amnesty ordinance was approved by the council in a special session early this year. At least eight councilors signed the ordinance.
Under the ordinance, the amount to be collected from delinquents will be used, first and foremost, in resolving the city’s waste management problem and to finance the operational needs of the new Ospital ng Imus, the first city’s public hospital.