Parañaque, Las Piñas offer tax discounts to ‘early birds’

With less than a month to go before the new year, the city governments of Parañaque and Las Piñas are offering discounts to those who will be paying their 2014 real estate taxes in advance.

Parañaque Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez said the city government would grant a 20-percent discount to those paying their 2014 real estate tax obligations in full between Dec. 1 and 15, and a 16-percent discount to those paying between Dec. 16 and 31.

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, only the regular 10-percent discount will be given to those paying within the first five days of the quarter.

“This early-bird discount is our way of rewarding those who dutifully fulfill their obligations by paying their real estate taxes in advance. These early payments enable us to plan our expenditures and maximize the delivery of basic services to the people of Parañaque,” Olivarez said.

Earlier this year, the Parañaque government also offered a three-month “tax amnesty” for delinquent real estate taxpayers to settle their obligations without penalties. The campaign raised around P600 million in income for the city, Olivarez said.

Meanwhile, Las Piñas Mayor Vergel Aguilar said 2014 real property tax payments settled in advance between December 2013 and end of March next year would get a 10-percent discount. A 20-percent discount was offered earlier in November for the early-bird taxpayers.

Aguilar noted that Las Piñas’ income was only around 14 percent of the revenues earned by Makati City and about 50 percent of the combined incomes of Muntinlupa, Parañaque and Pasay. Jaymee T. Gamil