DAVAO CITY–The local government unit (LGU) of Davao City has allowed business owners here to use digital wallets—Paymaya and GCash brands—to pay their tax obligation to the city.
Davao City Treasurer Lawrence D. Bantiding said that paying taxes could be done online through the portal of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Bantiding, a lawyer, added the move is part of the increasing number of options to settle the annual Mayor’s permit renewal for the year. The city has tapped the DBP and Land Bank of the Philippines as partner banks of the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) for the online payment of taxes.
He hopes taxpayers would avail of the online payment platform, “wherein all processes can already be accomplished, from application to payment, to the issuance of business permit.”
Bantiding added that the move would allow more online tax payment windows, encourage prompt payments and reducing long queues during the busy first quarter of the year for businesses.
“Last year, we implemented this fully online. We are hoping that many would avail of this because we also have assigned personnel dedicated to monitoring our online payments,” he said.
Bantiding said the city would be expecting to collect more taxes from businesses this year after the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The CTO and Business Bureau also opened 10 processing sites for the district, where business owners may transact face-to face.
He added that, for convenience, it is proper that taxpayers pay at the designated processing locations near them to avoid congestion.
Target collection
THE CTO has set a target collection of P2 billion in business taxes, or P400 million more from its 2022 target of P1.6 billion.
“This is a crucial period for the city to achieve its target now because the business permit taxes comprise 41 percent of our local taxes collection, so it is a huge chunk and has a huge impact on our city’s treasury, this fund that we can collect from the business operations,” Bantiding said.
He urged taxpayers to pay their taxes during the one-stop-shop Mayor’s Permit Renewal until January 31 to avoid surcharges.
Bantiding said it would be best for taxpayers to renew early so that their business permits will be processed earlier and can also be released immediately.
“Because if they pay beyond the renewal period on January 31, the penalty is huge,” he further said.
Bantiding said the surcharge is 25 percent of their tax due and the regulatory fees are already included in that 25 percent surcharge so it is quite big. The interest per month is also two percent so the earlier the payment the better), he added.
Bantiding said Davaoñes may pay their taxes either at the designated sites or online.
