THE City Government may receive next year part of the P125-million uncollected tax share from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) operations, which for years has remained unpaid by the national government.
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Mayor Mauricio Domogan in his Ugnayang Panlungsod media briefing Wednesday said Department of Budget Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad informed him of the possible release of P85 million directly to the City Government next year.
The mayor said the payment albeit not the full amount expected would be a welcome development for the City Government which is beset with a budget setback due to the reduction of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) next year.
He said if collected, the P85 million will be allocated for the various priority development projects which will be selected through consultation with the City Council.
The mayor said they will also work on the release of the remaining balance of the uncollected share as soon as possible.
Abad said the amount was based on the certification of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) dated September 11, 2003, indicating that the two percent share of the city for the period 1996 to 2002 was P85,543,424.56.
“The General Appropriations Bill January 1-December 31, 2012 under Allocations to Local Government Units, Special Provision No. 8 Release of the Share of Baguio City from the Gross Income Tax paid by all Business Establishments within the Loakan Economic Zone… in the amount of P85,000,000 shall be released by the DBM directly to the City of Baguio upon the submission of the joint or reconciled certification/s of actual collection by the BIR and the remittance to the (Bureau of the Treasury),” Abad wrote the mayor recently.
President Benigno Aquino III asked Abad last August to release the city’s uncollected tax share.
In January, the President first directed the DBM to look into the city’s Peza shares after Domogan asked for reconsideration of the President’s veto of said item from the national budget.
The city’s Local Finance Committee coordinated with the DBM-Cordillera in reconciling their figures on the claims and forwarded the same to the DBM central office.
The city has an accumulated tax share of around P125 million from the tax payments of business locators operating at the Loakan and Camp John Hay economic zones. - (SunStar / by Aileen Refuerzo)
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