30% of firms in Oro face stiff tax fines

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

SOME 30 percent of business taxpayers in the city failed to beat the Jan. 31 deadline for the renewal of business permits, and are facing the prospects of being slapped with stiff fines, a city hall official said yesterday.

Assistant city treasurer Ramon Mendoza said the firms would likely be asked to pay a 20-percent surcharge for missing the deadline plus an additional two percent per month unless they paid up.

Mendoza said this despite the city council’s move in approving an ordinance that moved the deadline from Jan. 31 to March 31.

He said the City Treasurer’s Office would stick to the Jan. 31 deadline unless Mayor Oscar Moreno signs the ordinance that was passed on Monday.

Mendoza said Moreno could either veto City Ordinance 2016-10 or agree to the second extension of the deadline.

Last month, the city council moved the Jan. 21 deadline to Jan. 31 after the Coalition of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the city raised questions and concerns pertaining to the basis of the taxes and fees.

City treasurer Glenn Bañez told the Gold Star Daily on Wednesday that he already answered the questions during the meeting of the city council’s finance committee late last month. Bañez also criticized the city council for voting in favor of the second extension of the deadline, accusing it of grave abuse of authority, and of hurting city hall’s revenue generation efforts.