THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has urged its members to avail themselves of the tax amnesty offered by the Cebu City Government as the business sector continues to struggle due to the pandemic.
Special Officer of the Mayor for Finance and Treasury Jerone Castillo briefed the members of the chamber on the salient points of the Cebu City Tax Amnesty Ordinance of 2019 in a webinar titled “CCCI Tax Talks: Tax Amnesty Explained” on Monday, Nov. 23 via Zoom.
“This is not a proposal of the City. This is an initiative of the CCCI in relation to the ease of doing business,” Castillo said, as he lauded the chamber for pushing for the creation of the Tax Amnesty Ordinance and crossing parties to push for its passage.
The Tax Amnesty Ordinance grants amnesty on, and foregoes or waives the collection of unpaid interest, penalties and surcharges on all outstanding or unpaid local taxes including real property, business and community taxes in 2019 and previous years without penalty by Dec. 15, 2020 and with a fixed rate of 10 percent on all unpaid due and demandable real property, business, and community taxes, as well as other fees and charges after this date but within one year from the effectivity of the ordinance.
“Amid the economic struggles faced by businesses, this is an important piece of legislation that will bring relief to business owners facing tax challenges,” the CCCI said in a statement.
The city government has moved the deadline for payment of real property taxes and business taxes for fiscal year 2020 to Dec. 21, 2020.
“Because again of the request of the Chamber, upon our recommendation and this was also sponsored by Council Raymond Alvin Garcia, the deadline will be on Dec. 21, 2020 for the benefit of the business on the instance of the Chamber,” Castillo said.
Castillo also suggested that the Chamber may lobby for further extension of the deadline in so far as to provide relief for taxpayers.
He said taxpayers may visit the city hall for accurate assessment and computation. Online application is also available. (JOB with PR)