Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, the chairman of the Committee of Finance, Ways and Means and Appropriation has proposed a 20% increase in the Revenue Code tax rates in a bid to beef up revenue collections.
Besides, Dayanghirang said, the revenue code has not been amended since it underwent revision in 2005.
In his keynote address during the 4th General Membership Meeting of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. attended by different business owners and managers all over Davao, Dayanghirang said that it is but fitting to increase taxes since the Revenue Code has not been revised for almost 12 years, contrary to what the law has stated.
“According to Section 191 of the Local Government Code, adjustment of tax rates should be done once every five years at rate not exceeding ten per cent,” the councilor said.
He proposed thirty per cent increase in fees like administrative fees like photocopying, and twenty per cent increase for the business taxes. According to him, these changes are across the board of all local taxes and subject to the limitations provided by the law. However, he stressed that these amendments are still subject to the conformity of the public.
As of today, Dayanghirang’s committee has been conducting committee hearings for the said amendments in the City Revenue Code. After the conduct of committee hearings, he noted that the consultation will go down to the district level. The councilor said that public hearings will be conducted all over the different districts in the city to get the business sector involved.
“Public hearing/consultation is mandatory when it comes to increase in taxes, power and water rates. Again, this proposal is still subject to your consent. When I say consent, we should come up with a consensus—consultation and consensus process. Istorya ta, then sabot ta. Umupo tayo at magkaisa tayo.”
