BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is proposing a tax relief for real property owners, who failed to pay their tax obligations for 2020 and prior years, amounting to P2.8 billion, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said yesterday.
The proposal was discussed yesterday by Diaz during a hearing of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee of Finance, chaired by Board Member Rommel Delgado, and attended by nine SP members and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer.
Diaz said they are proposing a tax relief for real property owners, who failed to settle their obligations, by entering into compromise agreements with Capitol.
As stipulated in the proposal, real property owners will be required to pay 20 percent of their tax obligations, with the remaining 80 percent to be paid within 24 months, either monthly or on quarterly basis, depending on the restructured plans.
During the two-year grace period, Diaz said that no interest will be added to the compromised deal. If it cannot be obligated within the 24 months period, then the agreement will be invalidated, he stressed.
“We will resort to remedies under the Local Government Code,” Diaz said, and called on real property owners to avail of the tax relief, after it is approved by the SP.
He admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the lower collection of real property taxes in the province.
The P2.8 billion real property taxes to be collected are on top of properties placed on auction by the provincial government, Diaz said.
But he said that owners of properties already auctioned by the provincial government, or those with expired redemption period, can avail of the compromise deal. “You can get back your property, including the title,” Diaz also said. “I hope the taxpayers will welcome this development, and will be happy about this,” he said, adding that “this is both a campaign to collect taxes and also a way of giving relief to taxpayers.”*
