Acting Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya confirmed that the city will impose penalties and surcharges starting today, Jan. 21, after the deadline for early filing of business permits and renewal ended yesterday. A 25 percent surcharge and 2 percent penalty per month will now be imposed to those who failed to meet the deadline. As expected, the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) failed to take up the request of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) and a group of accountants for the extension of business permit application and renewal until Feb. 15, during its regular session yesterday. Gasataya had earlier appealed to the city council to act on the request of the business sector, as he pointed out that it is only the legislative body that can extend, for a justifiable reason, the time for payment of such taxes, fees or charges without surcharges or penalties but only for a period not exceeding six months, as cited in Sec. 167 of the local government code. Meanwhile, acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran revealed that Councilors Em Ang, Ceasar Distrito and Roberto “Bobby” Rojas have proposed the passage of an ordinance extending the filing of business permit until Feb. 29. The proposed ordinance reiterated the Bacolod Revenue Code which provides that the Mayor’s Permit and business tax shall be renewed and paid on or before 20th of January and failure to do so shall subject the taxpayer to 25 percent surcharge and 2 percent penalty per month. Further, it stated that the SP every year extends the deadline of processing of business permits as well as payment of business taxes to give more time to taxpayers to settle their obligations to the city government. But such ordinance was not included in the agenda yesterday because the SP, based on the local government code, cannot take up other matters unless the proposed 2016 general budget amounting to P1.8 billion is approved. As of yesterday, the Permits and Licensing Division (PLD) has recorded at least 10,000 establishments who have already applied for business permits, compared to more than 17,000 recorded in 2015. PLD head Stela Rose Rayos said they will proceed with the inspection of business establishments as the One Stop Shop already ended yesterday./WDJ By Glazyl Jane Marie Y. Masculino
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