Bulk of Davao's revenues comes from business taxes

THE bulk of Davao City's total tax collection of P4.306 billion in 2011 came from business taxes with P766.871 million, the City Treasurer's Office (CTO) announced Wednesday.

City Treasurer Rodrigo Riola, speaking at the weekly Club 888 Forum at the Marco Polo Hotel Davao, said the collection in business taxes represents an increase of 111.44 percent compared to the previous year.

CTO also reported that the P4.306-billion collection is P200 million higher than its target for 2011. The figure represented an increase of 363 percent from the P55-million excess in 2010.

Riola attributed the very high collection to the efficiency of their personnel in monitoring business establishments in the city.

"We have been doing massive inspection and conducted examination of business establishment coupled by monthly meeting with district treasurers, and quarterly, we do evaluations for our past performance," Riola said.

Riola said CTO has a budget of P4 billion last year and had used only P306,016,209 million. The excess was then used for supplemental budget for 2012.

While the City Government of Davao has stopped giving tax incentives to businesses in the city, Riola said he sees this as an opportunity for the city to gain momentum in terms of income generation.

"This is a very good effort as it will be an additional income for the government," Riola said.

Riola said the total collection also came from service income such as mayor permits, clearance and certification fees, garbage fees, inspection fees and library fees and other regulatory fees.