Saturday, September 12, 2015
Oh I See (OIC) or why the Mindanao peace process continues to move at a snail’s pace
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Tax rule tweaks sought to boost LGUs’ revenues, capabilities
SENATOR Francis “Chiz” Escudero urged Malacan˜ang to lend its support to a proposed amendment to the situs rule on local business taxes in a bid to raise revenues for local government units (LGUs) and enhance financial capability to execute programs in their respective areas.
“We have a pending bill which seeks to amend the situs of taxation provision in the Local Government Code. Essentially, we want businesses to pay their local taxes in municipalities where the businesses operate, instead of where their main offices are located. LGUs, in effect, should have a bigger share in the revenue from these firms,” Mr. Escudero said in a convention organized by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Visayas Cluster in Iloilo last week.
Mr. Escudero was referring to Section 150 of the Local Government Code or Republic Act No. 7160 which states that “all sales made in a locality where there is a branch or sales office or warehouse should be recorded in said branch or sales office or warehouse and the local business tax due should be paid to the city or municipality where the same is located.”
In 2013, under the 16th Congress, the senator refiled the proposal, or Senate Bill No. 120. He originally filed the bill in 2010 as SB No. 105.
“A hundred percent share of all sales or transactions to Local Government Units is proposed so long as such sales or transactions occur in the LGU concerned. This practically expunges the present thirty percent share of the LGU where the principal place of business is located,” Mr. Escudero said in the bill’s explanatory note.
Mr. Escudero’s bill also proposes the following sales allocation for manufacturers, assemblers, contractors, producers and exporters with factories, project offices, plants and plantations: 30% of all sales recorded in the principal office shall be taxable by the city or municipality where the principal office is located and 70% percent of all sales shall be taxable by the city or municipality where the factory, project office, plant or plantation is located.
According to Mr. Escudero, most business owners prefer to pay their taxes where their businesses are located to “foster a relationship with the LGU where they operate.” --Elizabeth E. Escaño
source: Businessworld
“We have a pending bill which seeks to amend the situs of taxation provision in the Local Government Code. Essentially, we want businesses to pay their local taxes in municipalities where the businesses operate, instead of where their main offices are located. LGUs, in effect, should have a bigger share in the revenue from these firms,” Mr. Escudero said in a convention organized by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Visayas Cluster in Iloilo last week.
Mr. Escudero was referring to Section 150 of the Local Government Code or Republic Act No. 7160 which states that “all sales made in a locality where there is a branch or sales office or warehouse should be recorded in said branch or sales office or warehouse and the local business tax due should be paid to the city or municipality where the same is located.”
In 2013, under the 16th Congress, the senator refiled the proposal, or Senate Bill No. 120. He originally filed the bill in 2010 as SB No. 105.
“A hundred percent share of all sales or transactions to Local Government Units is proposed so long as such sales or transactions occur in the LGU concerned. This practically expunges the present thirty percent share of the LGU where the principal place of business is located,” Mr. Escudero said in the bill’s explanatory note.
Mr. Escudero’s bill also proposes the following sales allocation for manufacturers, assemblers, contractors, producers and exporters with factories, project offices, plants and plantations: 30% of all sales recorded in the principal office shall be taxable by the city or municipality where the principal office is located and 70% percent of all sales shall be taxable by the city or municipality where the factory, project office, plant or plantation is located.
According to Mr. Escudero, most business owners prefer to pay their taxes where their businesses are located to “foster a relationship with the LGU where they operate.” --Elizabeth E. Escaño
source: Businessworld
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Tuguegarao mayor, official dismissed for grave misconduct
Tuguegarao Mayor Jefferson Soriano and City Administrator Ronald Brillantes issued a special permit without the approval of the city council
MANILA, Philippines – The Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal of a city mayor and an official of Tuguegarao in Cagayan, for grave misconduct for issuing a special permit to a businesswoman and closing some streets for a city fiesta without prior approval of the city council.
Tuguegarao Mayor Jefferson Soriano, a member of the of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), and City Administrator Ronald Brillantes were found guilty of grave misconduct, and were criminally charged with two counts of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
In a press statement on Tuesday, September 9, the Office of the Ombudsman said that on July 11, 2013, Soriano gave a special permit to Vicky Medina to operate a baratilyo (bargain stalls in streets) for the city's fiesta celebrations from August to September 2013.
Soriano also ordered the closure of parts of Gomez, Del Rosario, and Gonzaga streets for the purpose.
However, Soriano sent to the city council a letter-request for authority to conduct the baratilyo and to close the streets only a week later, on July 18. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said that this action "deliberately pre-empted, if not circumvented, the will of the local legislative body."
The respondents also "granted a privilege to a private party without the benefit of negotiations, and without taking into account the safety, operation, and financial conditions that theSangguniang Panlungsod (city council) was able to lay down through a City Resolution [issued] only on July 31, 2013."
"The mere fostering of an uneven playing field in the conferment of a public privilege is, in itself, injurious to public interest," stressed Carpio-Morales.
As for the closure of city roads, Carpio-Morales said that Soriano "has no plenary authority to unilaterally cause the closure of local roads." The act, even on a temporary basis, "must bear legislative, and not simply executive fiat," she added.
In addition to their dismissal and the criminal charges against them, Soriano and Brillantes face the accessory penalties of cancellation of civil service eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office, the Ombudsman said. – Rappler.com
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