BTF stops harassement of sari-sari stores
FOLLOWING the complaint of several sari-sari store owners of being threatened by a business tax-mapping team from the office of the city treasurer, Mayor Belen Fernandez called on local government employees to be “more courteous” in collecting taxes and make Dagupan a more business-friendly city.
The complainants, owners of small-scale neighborhood retail shops in the island barangay of Pugaro, accused the tax team of harassing them, using the name of the mayor in making threats, to pay their overdue taxes or have their stores closed.
“This is foul, unacceptable,” an angry Fernandez said, adding that this could be an effort to discredit her and alienate her from the people of Dagupan, especially the small entrepreneurs.
The city treasurer’s office has been stepping up tax collection efforts to bring down the expected shortfall in collection by the end of this year in the amount of P30 million.
“I know that we need money but there is no need to harass and intimidate the businessmen in our efforts to collect taxes and pare down our expected collection shortfall,” said Fernandez whose family owns the CSI Group of Companies with a chain of wholesale supermarkets that cater to sari-sari stores.
Fernandez promptly grounded the team and stopped all business tax mapping activities in order to avoid suspicions that members of the mapping team are soliciting Christmas gifts from business owners during the holidays.
The members of the business tax mapping team have also been directed to explain their side in this week’s executive meeting of department heads.
Each sari-sari store with a capitalization of at least P5,000 is charged at least P1,300 per year in business tax, an amount that owners find excessive.
City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara defended that the rate being charged is actually provided for in the city’s comprehensive revenue ordinance enacted during in 2006.
Alcantara said she mobilized the business tax mapping team because of the earlier instruction of the mayor to go out and collect taxes.
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