MALOLOS CITY—Officials here led by Mayor Christian Natividad cried foul over about P100 million in taxes that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is demanding to collect. Records obtained by Punto showed that BIR Revenue Region 5 based in Caloocan City found internal revenue tax liabilities of the city government for the year 2010.
The taxes included expanded withholding tax (EWT) which climbed to P22,932,838.93; final withholding tax (FWT) amounting to P73,654,490.27; and withholding tax on compensation (WTC) amounting to P76,618. In an interview, Natividad expressed disappointment over the taxes noting that even services they rendered were taxed by the BIR.
This includesP189,110 taxes demanded by the BIR for the P9,455,500 scholarship expenses of the city government in 2010. The said amount is equivalent to the two percent tax required for scholarship expenses.
Natividad said that they have not paid the taxes demanded by the BIR noting that they will appeal before the BIR main office. He also said the BIR demand is unusual since the agency is demanding taxes on social services of the city government.
The formal demand letter from the BIR was issued on June 24, 2013 and it showed that payment of overdue taxes was on August 9, 2013. Natividad also said they also received a warning from the BIR that failure to pay the said taxes could lead to foreclosure of some assets of the city government.
