"THE concert was for free, and it should be non-taxable."
This was stressed by Bacolod City vice-mayoralty candidate former councilor Caesar Distrito after the City Treasurer's Office (CTO) charged the organizer of the "Sunset Festival 2022" concert for an amusement tax worth P127,500.
Distrito, in his Facebook post, said the employees of the CTO delivered the handwritten tax computation right in the middle of the program at the Central District Football Field in the city's Barangay Mandalagan on Sunday, March 19.
"As a professor on taxation and a lawyer, there’s no basis on the computation of the amusement tax because the event was for free," he said.
Distrito said amusement tax should be computed based on the 10 percent of the gross sales of the tickets, but since it is free, there was no need for it to be computed.
He added it still depends on the organizer of the event if they will pay the said tax computation.
For Councilor Renecito Novero, majority floor leader of the City Council, said the event was not for free and it was a ticketed concert with a price.
"So it's an income-generating concert and based on the general rule, they should pay the amusement tax under the law or based on the Section 40 of the Local Government Code," he said.
"If it's not a ticketed concert, the organizer should apply for the exemption that will be submitted to the City Council," he also said, adding that they did not receive an application for any concert to be held here.
The councilor also said he was not aware of the said concert but maintained that the action of the CTO is a legitimate exercise and was not harassment.