GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 4 January) — The city government is targeting to generate around P90 million in business taxes in the annual registration and renewal of business permits this month.
Rhesa Babes Sumalpong, business tax division chief of the City Treasurer’s Office, said Thursday such projection was based on the actual collections last year during the 20-day processing period for business permits.
“For 2018, we expect to generate not lower than that level (P90 million),” she said in a press conference.
For the entire year, she said they are hoping to duplicate or even surpass their business tax collection in 2017 that reached some P287 million.
On Wednesday, the city government opened a one-stop-shop at its Investment Center for the registration and renewal of business permits, which will run until Jan. 20.
It also rolled out a streamlined Business Permits and Licensing System that allows the issuance of business permits in two hours or even less.
From the previous 15 steps, which usually take two to three days to complete, the city government has cut down the process to just three to fast track the issuance of business permits.
Sumalpong said the local government could exceed its collection targets this year due to the enhanced system, which is dubbed FAST or Friendly, Accessible, Simple and Timely.
She said the shortened process allows them to accommodate more clients, which could reach around 10,000.
Around 8,500 existing businesses are expected to renew their permits during the processing period, she said.
Citing their experiences in the previous years, Sumalpong said a number of businesses still process their permits after the prescribed period.
But after the deadline, she said they will impose a 20-percent surcharge and 24-percent interest for the late applicants. (MindaNews)
