City still open to compromise with other parties in tax issue

CEBU, Philippines - City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva said the city will maintain status quo and defer the issuance of Certificate of Tax Delinquency to Cebu Doctors’ University and Cebu Doctors’ Hospital.

This after University of Cebu President Augusto Go expressed his willingness to pay the school’s business taxes and volunteered to convince the other school and hospital owners to pay their tax obligations.

“Status quo lang una kay nianha man dayon si Gus Go and expressed his willingness to pay, so, we will respect lang,” Oliva said.

UC has unpaid business taxes amounting to P107.4 million in its Sanciangko and Banilad campuses since 2000.

The city served the demand letter to CDU and CDH and gave the two institutions three days within which to pay their tax obligations, but Go met with Mayor Tomas Osmeña last Thursday and promised to help convince the other school and hospital owners to pay their business taxes.

The mayor and Go have agreed that the city will waive the business taxes from 2000 to 2006, which means that the proprietary schools and hospitals, including the ones who sued the city, will only pay tax dues from 2007 up to the present.

Moreover, the tax to be collected by the city government is only equivalent to ¾ of one percent of the gross receipts for the previous year.

Oliva said she is hoping that other proprietary schools and hospitals are amenable to the proposal and will also pay their tax dues.

“Maayo gyud nuon ug magkasabot ba kay we will not after man nga atong i-levy nang ilang mga properties kung mubayad lang,” Oliva added.

CDH and CDU failed to pay tax dues amounting to P107,701,288.33 since 2000 based on CTO’s computation from the records of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other schools and hospitals that owe the city include Cebu Institute of Technology (P48.5 million), Cebu North General Hospital (P2.4 million), Southwestern University (P34.5 million), Sacred Heart Hospital (P6.9 million), and Velez General Hospital (P18.5 million).

In 2006, the city government amended its tax ordinance, which reclassified the proprietary schools and hospitals as industries that are already subject to taxation.

But some of hospital and schools owners refused to pay their obligations and filed a case in court to declare the ordinance null and void. They said they are tax-exempt because their schools and hospitals are non-profit. — Elly Bolonos/JMO   (FREEMAN NEWS)