Business taxpayers will now have a grace period of 10 days to settle their tax obligation to the Quezon City government.
The Quezon City Council has passed on third and final reading Ordinance No. SP-2040, S-2011 that extended the January 20 deadline for the payment of business taxes and fees to January 31.
Authored by Councilor Allan Benedict S. Reyes, the ordinance was in response to the limitations of the existing manpower and facilities of the City Treasury in accommodating the big number of taxpayers, who had to form long queues to beat the original deadline.
“In the interest of the taxpaying public of QC, the deadline for payment should be extended to at least 10 days to accommodate business tax payment without penalty,” Reyes said.
City Treasurer Edgar Villanueva has urged businessmen to grab the opportunity to settle their tax obligation before the end of the extension period on January 31 (Monday) to avoid payment of penalty, surcharge and interest.
He warned that payments to be made on February 1 (Tuesday) will incur a penalty of 25 percent and 2 percent monthly interest/surcharge.
He added that the city treasurer’s office, particularly the collection department on business tax, will be open from Monday to Sunday until the end of the extension period on January 31 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm .
At the same time, Villanueva reported that the city had collected a total of P1,453,290,005.34 as of January 19, 2011 compared to P740,384,617.79 of the same period, an increase of P712,905,387.55.
Of the said amount, P567,386,240.37 was collected from business tax with an increase of P125,369,056.39 compared to P442.017,183.98 of the same period last year.-30- Maureen Quinones, PAISO.