LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial board approved an ordinance extending the payment of the 2022 annual and the first quarter real property taxes in the province without surcharges, interests or penalties up to June 30, 2022.
Board Member Nestor Fongwan, Jr., author of Ordinance No. 2022-295, stated that the deadline for the payment of the 2022 annual and first quarter real property taxes and the additional levy for the province’s special education fund shall be extended to June 30, 2022.
Further, the ordinance stipulated that all surcharges, interests and penalties shall be waived during the extended period to allow the taxpayers to timely settle their obligation to the provincial government and for them to be given the sufficient time to raise the required amount for the said taxes.
Fongwan pointed out that with the ongoing state of public health emergency caused by the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, for such reason and for the benefit of the taxpayers, it is but proper to make the necessary adjustment of the period for the payment of the 2022 real property tax by extending the period within which to settle their tax obligations.
Earlier, Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, its implementing rules and regulations, and other related laws, rules and regulations fixed the deadline for the annual and first quarter of the real property tax every 31st day of March on the taxable year pursuant to the province’s 2015 Revised Revenue Code.
According to Board Member Fongwan, the COVID-19 pandemic which had been prevailing over the past 2 years had significantly impacted the employment and economic activities of the people, thus their capacity to pay their taxes due to the government had been compromised, and the provincial government needs to relax the prescribed deadline for paying these to give sufficient time for taxpayers to raise the money needed to settle their tax obligations to the local government.
While the taxes people pay is the lifeblood of the government, the Board Member asserted there is always a need for the local government to balance the situation, especially during the difficult times, such as this ongoing health crisis, to avoid putting the burden on the people and forcing them to pay their taxes on time despite having been heavily impacted by the pandemic.
He claimed that the extension of the deadline on the payment of the real property taxes and the levy for the province’s special education fund will not have a significant impact on raising the required revenue for the provincial government as it is only the deadline that had been extended and that the municipal government will be realizing the projected revenues by the middle part of the year instead of the end of the first quarter, thus, it will be the provincial government that will have to adjust to the situation rather than force people to pay their taxes and imposing the prescribed surcharges, interests and penalties which might not be appropriate at this time of hardship.
Fongwan underscored that the government understands the predicament of the people during these difficult times that is why it passed the aforesaid ordinance extending the deadline for the payment of real property tax without surcharges, interests and penalties.
