BACOLOD CITY –– The Negros Occidental provincial board is drafting an ordinance that will condone the interest and penalties on real property tax (RPT) amounting to P2.8 billion amid the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a campaign to collect taxes and a way of giving tax relief,” Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.
He said the uncollected RPT obligations in Negros Occidental as of November 2020 reached P2.8 billion.
The ordinance is expected to take effect next year.
Diaz said several landowners have been requesting the provincial government, through Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, for tax relief.
“We noted all of the suggestions from the floor, and we will now try to put them in writing, find all the legal basis, and fine-tune the mechanics of the tax relief,” Diaz said.
It was proposed that those who have RPT delinquencies as of Dec. 31, 2020 would be given the chance to enter compromise agreements with the Provincial Treasurer’s Office.
Upon entering into compromise agreements, the landowners must pay 20 percent of their delinquency, with the remaining 80 percent to be paid within 24 months or two years.
“The 80 percent can be paid monthly or quarterly depending on the restructured plan,” Diaz said.
During the two-year period, no interest will be added to the amount contained in the compromise agreement, but the landowner will have to pay the current tax.
Under the proposed ordinance, a landowner can also redeem his property already up for auction.
“No payment will invalidate the compromise agreement, and we will resort to remedies under the Local Government Code. This, however, is all up to the approval of the provincial board,” Diaz said.
“This is a tax relief given the fact that we are under a state of calamity as declared by President Rodrigo Duterte,” he added.