Cebu City task force vows to track down tax evaders

Although understaffed, the Cebu City Task Force on the Inspection and Investigation of Business Permits will continue to track down business establishments operating without the necessary papers.

Task force head Melvin Bacalso made the assurance during an interview Thursday, December 27.

“Sa tinuod lang gyud, kuwang mi og taw tungod sa kadako sa Cebu City. Pero kutob sa atong mahimo, unsay mando, atong buhaton (We don’t have enough personnel to cover all of Cebu City. But we will do everything we can),” he said.

While he only has 18 staff members, Bacalso remains hopeful that his office can inspect all the establishments in the 80 barangays next year.

Operations, though, will temporarily stop on January 2019 since members of the task force were asked to help the Business Processing and Licensing Office in handling business permit renewals.

Records at the City Treasurer’s Office show that there are around 33,000 registered business establishments in the city.

As of December 27, Bacalso said they have already inspected 12,000 business establishments.

Of the number, around 4,000 establishments, which included retail stores, restaurants and hotels, received show-cause orders for issues raised by concerned citizens, among others. They were ordered to settle their tax obligations with the City. Failure to respond to the show-cause orders three days upon receipt will result in closure.

Some 1,000 establishments, on the other hand, were found to have been operating without business permits, nor were they paying business taxes.

In an interview last December 18, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the City will immediately shut down their businesses for being tax delinquents.

“We’re tracking them. We will close them, of course. Unfair kaayo, ang usa nay taxes ang usa wala (It’s unfair to those who pay their taxes),” he said.

While he admits seeing progress since forming the task force in August, Osmeña said he is not yet satisfied with their performance.

“It’s moving up, but (I’m) not satisfied. We have to change. It’s not going to get better,” he said. / RTF

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