City officials requested establishments in the city such as SM, Mercury Drug, fuel/gas stations and the like operating as business branches to submit to the local legislative body a copy of their gross receipts for at least one year for information and appropriate legislative measure.
Under Resolution No. 431, series of 2023, local legislators stated that there is a need to study the possibility of the operating branches paying their income taxes based on their gross receipts instead of an increase of 40 percent in local business taxes.
The council claimed that head office businesses reportedly take the advantages of branch operation in certain localities for greater level of business control, cost effectivity, business recognition, access to new markets, but pay income taxes through their head office.
Pending before the local legislative body is a proposal from the executive department to increase local business taxes by as much as 40 percent that prompted the council to look for other alternatives that would lessen the burden of local taxpayers and be able to achieve the targeted projections in the proposed increase in taxes.
The body admitted that taxes are the lifeblood of the government and that the law allows local governments to increase local taxes periodically provided that this must be reasonable and not excessive and confiscatory.
However, the council did not specify in the approved resolution the timeline by which the said establishments should be submitting copies of their gross receipts for assessment and evaluation to guide the local legislators on future actions to undertake on how to treat the proposal to increase taxes.
Copies of the approved resolution will be transmitted to the concerned establishments for information, guidance, ready reference and further needed action.
