The Makati City government is eyeing a reduction in the current tax rates being imposed in the city, particularly real property tax, to make it more attractive to local and foreign investors.

“Given our robust revenues and strong cash position, I believe we can afford to reduce current tax rates, especially real property tax. It would make the city more attractive to local and foreign investors, thus increasing Makati’s competitiveness as a premier investment destination in Asia,” Mayor Abby Binay said.

The city government announced on Thursday, June 16, that it has reached 80 percent of its P18.4- billion revenue target for the year. As of April, the total collections of the city have reached P14,764,700,267.36.

Mayor Binay said that with the revenue target reached, it can sustain the implementation of enhanced health, education, and other social programs and innovations planned for this year. 

Mayor Abby Binay

“Our robust revenues provide us with the financial stability we need to continuously implement programs that go well beyond the basic needs of our constituents. We are grateful to our taxpayers for their trust and confidence in the city government, especially the business sector which remains the largest contributor to the city coffers,” she said.

According to the report of City Treasurer Jesusa Cuneta, the city collected nearly P8.2 billion in business tax or 81 percent of target, followed by real property tax with P5.2 billion or 107 percent of the target.  

“Our total budget this year is P21.1 billion, and the Social Development sector has the lion’s share with an allocation of P10.4 billion, or 49.43 percent.  Aside from our income from taxes, we also have substantial cash in bank amounting to P33.6 billion,” Mayor Binay said.

Under the said sector, the education sub-sector got the biggest share with P4.5 billion, followed by health with P4.1 billion, and social welfare with P1.8 billion.

Records of the Business Permit and Licensing office showed that a total of 1,820 new businesses have registered in the first four months of 2024, with the combined capital investment worth over P16.3 billion.

A total of 34,203 businesses renewed their business permits and registered total gross sales of over 1.8 trillion. 

Binay said that Makati’s local revenue sources make up the bulk of the city’s income and the city remains among the few local government units in the country that are not dependent on the National Tax Allotment (NTA).