Pay taxes early, Valenzuela traders told

The Valenzuela City government has reminded businessmen to pay their taxes on time if they want to avoid exorbitant surcharges and interests.

The deadlines for the quarterly payment of business taxes this year are on Jan. 20, April 20, July 20 and Oct. 20.

Should they fail to beat the deadline, they will have to pay a 25 percent surcharge on top of a two percent interest on the actual dues.

The city government said that it would set up a one-stop shop at the Valenzuela City social hall this month to make it convenient for businessmen to pay their taxes.

At the same time, it announced that its cashiers were now accepting credit and ATM cards for those who wanted to settle their business and real property taxes and license fees at city hall.

The initiative is one of three programs the city government has launched to help simplify tax payment.

In December, the city government also unveiled its mobile money payment facility which accepts payments for real property taxes for now.

The system, developed with the help of a grant from the United States Agency for International Development, accepts payments from mobile money platforms such as Smart Money (Smart Communications Inc.) and G-Cash (Globe Telecom).

The city government is expected to expand the service in the future to accommodate payments for business permits and license fees, public market and stall retail fees, and public terminal and parking fees. The city government is also expected to use the mobile money service for its payroll system and for the payment of utilities, among others.