Las Piñas adopts 'no audit program' for businesses

MANILA, Philippines - Business establishments in Las Piñas City applying for renewal of licenses and permits will be exempted from audit and investigation under a “no audit program,” Mayor Vergel Aguilar said yesterday.

He said the program aims to provide taxpayers with incentives to voluntarily declare and pay their taxes, at the same time plugging holes in the tax collection drive.

Aguilar, however, clarified that the exemption in presenting documents “shall not be construed as a waiver of the performance of regulatory functions of an office or department of the city.”

Under the program, the taxpayer shall be exempted in presenting any other document for the renewal of his business permit and license before any office or department of the city government.

The ordinance however specifically directed the city treasurer that before a business establishment is exempted from audit and or investigation, the taxpayer’s business tax payment for the current tax year should have increased by 20 percent over the business tax paid for the preceding year and that taxpayer has no delinquent business tax.