Tax relief for suspended Baguio businesses pushed

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The city council unanimously approved a resolution requesting the City Treasury Office to provide the needed tax relief to commercial establishments that stopped or suspended their operations during the implementation of the Luzon-wide community quarantine as a precautionary measure to prevent the further spread of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 cases in the different parts of the country.

The resolution authored by all members of the city legislative body underscored it is also important for the city government to provide the needed tax relief to owners of commercial establishments that stopped or suspended their operations during the quarantine period because there were no ways for them to do business considering the strict implementation of the policy on home confinement.

The resolution was one of the legislative measures acted upon by the Council during its recent special session called for the purpose of helping harmonise the city’s efforts to reduce the serious negative impact of the prevailing enhanced community quarantine to the economic activities and the livelihood of the people.

City legislators will leave the discretion to the City Treasury Office on what form of tax relief that will be allowed to be granted to the affected owners of commercial establishments that stopped operations during the duration of the quarantine period.

The city legislative body pointed out that during the present hard times, it is important for all concerned sectors to work together in finding the appropriate solutions to ease the burden on the people from the serious effects of the suspension of business operations and other restrictions that has impeded the movement of people to prevent the further spread of the deadly virus to the people in the different parts of the country.

According to the resolution, the proposed tax relief is aligned with the conditions imposed by the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease for concerned government agencies to grant a moratorium on the payment of rentals, reprieve on the payment of taxes, among others, as part of the efforts to mitigate the effects of the enhanced community quarantine on people.

The resolution claims that the possible grant of tax relief to the affected owners of commercial establishments is part of the stop gap measures to reduce the impact of the ongoing enhanced community quarantine to the overall condition of the city and the people who rely on their daily income for their subsistence.

The proposed tax relief for owners of commercial establishments in the city is over and above the proposal for them to be granted possible relief in the collection of rentals by their lessors.

The resolution said measures and strategies were being suggested to be enforced is part of the whole-of-the-society approach to at least minimize the impact of the strict implementation of the enhanced community quarantine to the economic activities and livelihoods of people as it is important for everyone to contribute their individual and collective efforts to address the pressing problems of the city at this time.