M’daue to collect tax from professionals

The Mandaue City Treasurer’s Office  will visit media outlets  next week to drum up awareness of  the city’s drive to collect taxes from professionals.

The city government will require  persons who passed the  Professional Regulation Commission board exams to pay professional and occupational taxes of P165 a year.

The taxes are  based on the Mandaue City Revenue Code, said Regal Oliva, OIC  City Treasurer.

The local revenue code also requires other types of professionals  who are not required to pass board examinations to pay P82.50 a year (See list).

The wide list ranges from tattoo artists,   chefs  and TV stage directors, to coaches and  interior decorators.

Oliva said  this is different from the  community tax (cedula) collected by local governments.

“Taxation is the lifeblood of the government. We must abide by its rules. This is not ‘double taxation’ because this is another category of tax,” Oliva said.

The professional and occupational taxes are based on the local revenue code approved by the Mandaue City Council during the adminstrtion of then mayor Thadeo Ouano.

Under  Section 12 of Ordinance No. 051 of 1999, “Professional and occupational tax coverage —there is hereby imposed an annual professional tax of one hundred fifty (P150) on each person engaged in the exercise or practice of his profession requiring government examination and who has principal office or domicile in the city of Mandaue.”

“The professionals subject to tax herein are those who have passed the bar examinations or any board or other examinations conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

All the rest shall be paying seventy-five pesos (P75).”

Oliva said the amount of P165 for board passers and P82.50 for other professions was  reached because on Jan. 1, 2006, the City Council approved an increase of 10 percent in  both taxes.

Meanwhile, the Mandaue City Treasurer’s Office has been monitoring more than 100 KTV bars in the city.

Oliva said they were checking whether  KTV bar entertainers have hygiene cards.

This requirement  helps flag whether  the bars are  complying with their business taxes. Proof of hygiene certifications are a prequisite for the issuance of a business permit.

The CTO found out that 70 percent of the entertainers complied with  the requirement of taking  weekly hygiene tests, which costs  P75 per test.