BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance adopting the implementing rules and regulations in the registration of barangay micro-business enterprises (BMBEs)as required under Republic Act (RA) 9178, otherwise known as the “Barangay Micro-business Enterprises Act of 2002,’ fixing the amount of registration fee and providing tax incentives and for her purposes.
The ordinance, authored by Councilor Leandro B. Yangot, Jr., stated that the City Treasury Office shall register qualified BMBEs and subsequently issues a certification to enable the enterprise to avail of incentives under the law, provided that, only one certification will be issued for each qualified enterprise by the said office.
The ordinance added that the City Treasurer as the BMBE registration officer shall establish a one-stop business registration center to handle efficient registration and processing of permits or licenses review, approve or disapprove, processed applications; issue the required certificate of authority; issue the notice of cancellation to BMBEs; submit periodic reports to the Department of the Interior and Local government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR); monitor the BMBEs; appoint an assistant registration officer from his staff; upon registration, see to it that the information indicated in the application is legitimate by inspecting the existence of the business; visit the registered enterprise at least once a year to ensure that the BMBEs are engaged in the authorized business; require the submission of annual reports responsible in determining whether the BMBE has complied with the requirements of renewing the certificate of authority every two years from date of registration and submit periodic reports to the concerned government agencies.
Under the proposed ordinance, the qualifications for registration as BMBEs are natural or juridical persons having an asset size of not more than P3 million and engaged solely in barangay-based businesses.
Among the requirements for BMBE registration include duly-filled up application form in triplicate copies signed by the owner, 3 photos of the owner and the manager if applicable, a copy of approved license to operate business or business license for existing enterprises and business name registration, Securities and Exchange (SEC) registration for corporations and partnerships, tax identification number and audited financial statements at the time of application, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) registration for cooperatives and certificate of good standing.
The ordinance stipulated that there shall be imposed a registration fee of P1,000 for every line or nature of activity registered as BMBE to defray the administrative cost of registering and monitoring the BMBEs and all fees and charges derived from the registration shall accrue exclusively to the city and shall be used for the administration of the act and for development projects approved by the local legislative body.
A registered BMBE shall be exempt from income tax from income arising purely from its registered operations pursuant to Section 9, Chapter III of RA 9178; provided, that it shall be subject to other pertinent taxes imposed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in accordance with revenue regulations.
By Dexter A. See
