Zonal values for Pampanga, Angeles take effect April 1

ANGELES CITY -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is set to implement its new zonal values under Department Orders 35-05 and 36-05 of the Department of Finance (DOF) for Pampanga and Angeles City this April 1.

Department Order 35-05 prescribed the zonal values of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga under the jurisdiction of Revenue District Office (RDO)# 21B-South Pampanga, while Department Order 36-05 prescribed the zonal values of the cities and municipalities under the jurisdiction of RDO# 21A-North Pampanga and municipalities under the jurisdiction of RDO#21B-South Pampanga.

The scheme has been "frozen" since 2007 after the business sector raised an outcry regarding the drastic increase, up to 800 percent, of some prime real properties in the province.

The BIR earlier said there were no increase in property value and tax over the past 16 years.

The Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PamCham) led the opposition against the scheme and initiated talks with officials of the BIR led by then RDO Jose Paulino.

The business community here once more sought the further deferment of the scheme pending review of the values and a consultation with concerned groups. Talks have been held in 2009 and 2010.

In 2012, a group of businessmen have expressed opposition when the scheme was again planned to be implemented.

The Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Incorporated (MACCII), with then chairman Mario Lazatin, together with other businessmen, submitted a position paper before the BIR office stipulating comments and recommendations regarding the planned increase in zonal valuation by as much as 1,400 percent.

Lazatin said they are opposing the drastic increase of the property value, which was announced during a public hearing on March 7, 2012. He clarified, however, that they are not against the tax increase, but that it should be done in a smooth manner.

Based on the study conducted by MACCII, the increase acceptable to businessmen is 100 percent, or P1,000 per square meter, according to Lazatin.

With the recent announcement again of the implementation of the new zonal values, PamCham said it will immediately meet with officials of the BIR to inquire on what happened with the earlier inputs they have presented on the zonal valuation scheme.

“We were surprised that they are soon implementing the zonal values. We were not informed and we do not know if our inputs in the past meetings with the BIR are part of the soon to be implemented zonal values,” a local businessman said.

The zonal values will be implemented at RDO# 21B and RDO#21A.

RDO# 21B is composed of the following cities and municipalities: City of San Fernando, Apalit, Bacolor, Candaba, Floridablanca, Guagua, Lubao, Macabebe, Masantol, Mexico, Minalin, San Luis, San Simon, Sasmuan, Sta. Ana, Sta. Rita and Sto. Tomas.

RDO# 21A-North Pampanga is composed of the following cities and municipalities: Angeles City, Arayat, Clarkfield, Mabalacat, Magalang and Porac.

Department Order 36-05, meantime, covers the following cities and municipalities: Angeles City, Apalit, Arayat, Bacolor, Candaba, Floridablanca, Guagua, Lubao, Mabalacat, Macabebe, Magalang, Masantol, Mexico, Minalin, Porac, San Luis, San Simon, Sasmuan, Sta. Ana, Sta. Rita and Sto. Tomas.