THE Cagayan de Oro City Council on Monday, January 22, gave in to requests by the business sector to extend the deadline for business permits renewal and payment of Real Property Tax until January 31.
In a letter to the City Council, the Local Finance Committee noted the low turnout for the renewal of business permits as of January 14, compared to the same period last year.
In the resolution, the finance committee said the low turnout is attributed to the damages incurred by Typhoon Vinta to businesses last December 22, 2017.
The deadline is set last Saturday, but the committee wants be extended to January 31.
The Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce also pointed out that due to the December 22 tropical storm, some of its members were not able to beat the deadline for the payment of their real property taxes last December 29, 2017.
Aside from asking for a deadline extension, the Chamber also asked the council to give them a "tax amnesty."
"2017 was a perilous year to our businessmen, as the community has suffered several setbacks and drawbacks from natural calamities to unrest caused about by several armed groups. Still, our community remained steadfast and had survived. However, as we end the year 2017, on December 22, we were hit by tropical storm Vinta which had led to the declaration of the state of calamity. While thankfully no lives lost, it had caused damages not only to our residents but to our businesses as well," wrote Oro Chamber Robertino Pizzaro.
Because of this, the City Council approved a 20 percent payment discount for the real property tax until January 31, 2018.
The discount, however, can only be availed if the business establishment gets a barangay certification as a flood victim, and an updated payment of the real property tax for calendar year 2017.