Paranaque City Mayor Florencio M. Bernabe Jr. recently approved City Ordinance No. 9 Series of 2004 granting relief to delinquent real property taxpayers in the form of a tax amnesty by condoning interests, surcharges and other penalties on their accumulated tax obligations to the city government.
Mayor Bernabe said the city government has decided to grant the tax amnesty to erase the financial burden of city taxpayers, especially in these difficult times.
The tax amnesty shall take effect on November 1 and ends on November 30, 2004. Those availing of the amnesty within this period shall enjoy a 100 per cent condonation on interests, surcharges and other penalties.
“The deadline for settling back taxes on real properties will not be extended for any period of time and that the next step is for the city government to place on the auction block all properties whose owners fail to avail of the tax amnesty,” Mayor Bernabe stressed.
Bernabe said the last time the city government granted a tax amnesty to delinquent real property owners in the city was in 1997. He does not see another tax relief in the foreseeable future.
“We are granting this tax relief to delinquent real property owners this year to give them the chance to settle their accumulated arrearages and bring their tax payments up to date,” Mayor Bernabe said.
Under the ordinance, payments shall be accepted from the earliest to the latest years of delinquencies. It is only after delinquencies covering the years prior to 2004 shall have been settled in full can tax relief apply or be availed of.
The ordinance also stipulates that the tax amnesty cannot be availed of by taxpayers with pending or protested cases in court.
Mayor Bernabe is encouraging residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and other categories of real properties, including those with improvements, to update their tax obligations and avoid embarrassment of having their properties placed on the auction block, which is what the city government will do next to compel compliance.
He said that those who wish to avail of the amnesty can avoid inconvenience and help speed up the processing time of their papers if they bring with them any one of the following supporting documents: official receipt of their last property tax payment and tax declaration or Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) of their property.
Bernabe urged those availing of the tax amnesty to come and pay their taxes early to avoid the expected big crowd of taxpayers. He also added that long-time residents of Paranaque who have failed to pay their real property taxes since the pre-war days should take advantage of this opportunity to settle their tax obligations. “Now is their big chance to come clean”, he said.
Resources courtesy of the City Information Office, City Hall, Parañaque.
