Delinquent QC property owners offered tax relief

Delinquent Quezon City real property owners can now heave a sigh of relief, as Mayor Herbert Bautista declared a tax amnesty in the form of relief from payments of unpaid real property taxes of 5 years and above. “I just hope that the delinquent taxpayers will avail of this tax relief, to pay their delinquent taxes worth 5 years only,” he said regarding the new city ordinance set for this purpose.

Quezon City Ordinance No. 2363 details that taxpayers who have more than 5 years of real property tax delinquencies can now fully settle them by paying their past due for the past 5 years, 2010 to 2014, including all penalties, surcharges and interest. This means they no longer need to pay their overdue RPTs prior to 2010. “This tax privilege will be offered only for a sixmonth period from January 5 to June 30. After that, [those who did not avail of the tax relief], we have no choice but to recourse to auction of the said properties.” He added that the city stands to earn 1 to 1.5 billion from these collections.

The said ordinance, according to Mayor Bautista in a press conference held at the Quezon City Hall, is one of the three tax relief-related ordinances instituted by the Quezon City council as part of its 75th anniversary celebration. The conference followed after the Mayor’s special LEDAC meeting where he posited the city with the ASEAN economic integration.

He also discussed two other significant ordinances, like one on exemption from audit of business taxpayers who pay 30% on their 2015 business tax payments on top of payments made in 2014. Another is on mandatory declaration of real property owners of their property acquisitions two months after the effect of transfer of real property records within 60 days.

These measures also target to increase the city’s tax collection to boost social and economic activities much needed by Quezon City’s residents. To date, the city has over 60,000 registered business establishments.