Monday, August 25, 2008 Treasurer wants to require tax clearances from lessors
CEBU City Hall is studying the proposal to create an ordinance that requires all commercial centers and buildings to ask for tax clearances from lessors to make sure that they pay taxes every year.
The City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) has already made it a policy to request operators of all malls and other commercial buildings accepting rentals to have all occupants and locators present business permits before being allowed to lease a space.
The lessors are also required to present a tax clearance and a retirement certificate upon termination of or closure of the business.
Ensure tax payment
Since this would involve taxpayer compliance, City Treasurer Renee Empaces requested the City Council to pass an ordinance on it.
In a letter, she told the council that such measure will aid the CTO in ensuring that business establishments pay their taxes to the City Government.
The request, however, brought confusion to the city council since a business address is required when applying for a business permit.
Councilor Jose Daluz III, council committee on budget and finance chairman, said he will clear the matter with Empaces later this week.
“The councilors were a bit confused. Which comes first, the issuance of a business permit or the leasing of the office or store space of the taxpayer? A business address is one of the requirements when getting a business permit, but she is proposing to have the taxpayer present their business permit when leasing space. We will discuss this first before drafting any ordinance,” Daluz told Sun.Star Cebu.
Other papers
In her letter, Empaces further said that the requirements they are seeking is provided for in Section 12 of the Cebu City Omnibus Tax Code.
Aside from the business permit, she also proposed to require business owners to present tax clearances or retirement certificates when terminating their lease contracts with malls or commercial buildings.
A tax clearance is a certificate issued by the CTO that shows how much the business owner has paid to the City for the year.
A retirement certificate, on the other hand, shows that the taxpayer has stopped operating his businesses. (LCR)
