Taxi operators oppose meter receipt scheme

Taxi operators in Cebu expressed disfavor to the proposal of the Land Franchising and Regulatory Board and the Bureau of Internal Revenue requiring them to issue meter receipts, saying it would be a burden on their part.

Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association president Richard Cabucos instead said that Manila and other regions in the country should adopt the taxing scheme imposed by BIR on Metro Cebu drivers.

He said that they opposed the meter receipt scheme because the BIR wants to collect three percent tax from their daily gross collection.

Cabucos said that they are presently paying a P360 monthly tax for every taxi unit to the BIR. He said that they do not have problem with the taxing scheme, which started in July, because they are also willing to help the government.

Since the main purpose of requiring meter receipts is for taxation, he suggested that the other areas should adopt what they are doing here.

"If they want to efficiently collect tax, they should implement what we practice here because this is better than having meter receipts," he told The Freeman.

Cabucos explained that no taxi operator could escape the P360 per unit tax because the BIR, LTFRB and the Land Transportation Office have signed a memorandum of agreement that taxi operators should present a certification/clearance from the BIR that they have paid taxes for their taxi units once they renew the registrations of their vehicles.

He added that his group had already submitted its position paper to LTFRB office in Manila on the meter receipts issue.

But LTFRB regional legal officer Jose Douglas Sanson said that they received a memorandum from Manila requiring all taxi units to issue meter receipts to passengers by January.

He, however, admitted that it is hard to implement the meter receipt scheme because it would need the recalibration of taximeters, which means additional expenses for taxi operators.

If approved, the new scheme will lead to the scrapping of the boundary (rental) in taxis and the adoption of the percentage system under which a driver will earn a percent of his total collection for the day.

LTFRB regional director Rogelio Osmeña also favored the meter receipt scheme because drivers will have no chance to cheat since the receipts would show how much is their earning for the day and how much they should remit to their operators.

"I'm telling you people, your system is very old, very parochial. You have to abolish the boundary system and instead give wage to your drivers. The receipts will show if your drivers cheat," Osmeña added. - Wenna A. Berondo