NO LEGAL BASIS FOR 50% DISCOUNT ON TAX

THE executive department of Dagupan City rejected a resolution authored by the seven-man opposition in the Sangguniang Panlungsod asking Mayor Belen Fernandez to grant a 50 percent discount to business permit fees of owners of establishments affected by the elevation of roads in Dagupan City.

Mayor Fernandez said the authors of the resolution do not know their law, pointing out that the basis of taxation in all local government units is the gross sales of business owners from the previous year as provided for in the local revenue code enacted by the previous sanggunian.

In other words, if a business establishment reports a drop in its income, the corresponding business tax rate will be lower.

Citing the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic, a business establishment that reported gross sales P1 million in 2021 before the pandemic, then subsequently reported only P500,000 in 2022, it is the low P500,000 gross sales that’s used as basis for the computation of business tax.

Fernandez said the authors of the resolution obviously think they can earn brownie points they don’t deserve.

Since the resolution authored by the seven councilors in the majority is legally infirmed, the mayor said she will veto the resolution once it reaches her desk.

Atty. Aurora Valle supported Mayor Fernandez’s reaction, saying the only basis for a taxation is the revenue code enacted by the previous sanggunian, a provision defined in the Local Revenue Code.

“It means if the reported gross revenue is low, the business tax is low based on scheduled rates,” Valle pointed out.

“You violate the law if you make deductions that are not provided for in the Local Revenue Code,” Valle said, adding that Mayor Fernandez will not violate the law. (Leonardo Micua)

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