By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
A LAWYER and expert on taxation yesterday said Ajinomoto Philippines would not have paid city hall any tax from 2006 to 2011 had city treasurer Glenn Bañez not insisted on collecting from the firm.
Lawyer Cresensio Countian, a city hall consultant, said this even as he laughed off allegations that the tax settlement was disadvantageous to the city.
Countian said the allegations were a result of a lack of understanding of taxation and tax settlements, and the oversimplification of the settlement between Bañez and Ajinomoto. He said the allegation that city hall lost P2.6 million because only P300 thousand of Bañez’s P2.9-million assessment was paid by Ajinomoto was based on a wrong premise.
“Kadtong P2.9 million, dili man kadto kwrata kon dili assessment man lang kadto ni Bañez sa buhis nga dapat bayran sa Ajinomoto sigon sa iyang pag-classify sa Ajinomoto product nga non-essential commodity gikan sa 2006 ngadto sa 2011,” Countian said.
He said Ajinomoto was not made to pay local taxes from 2006 to 2011, and there was a chance it could no longer be compelled to pay because of a five-year prescribed period.
“Kon sumadahon, naka-ginansiya pa ang city hall ug P300 thousand kay wala na gani untay bayran ang Ajinomoto nga buhis gikan sa 2006 ngadto sa 2011 kay kini nga mga tuig ‘prescribed’ na. Bo-ot pasabot nga kon ‘prescribed’ na, dili na mahimo nga koliktahon pa sa gobyerno ang buhis nga lapas nag lima ka tuig,” Countian said.
Countian revealed that he was the one who advised Bañez to reclassify Ajinomoto’s product from essential commodity to non-essential commodity so that the firm would be forced to pay city hall local taxes in full instead of just half. He said before the Moreno administration, Ajinomoto only paid city hall 50 percent because its product was classified as essential.
Countian said Bañez did not need to get the consent of the city council when it came to the tax settlement. He said the Local Government Code did not state that local treasurers should first ask the authority of the local councils before they could enter into a tax settlement.
“Wala gayud magsulti ang Section 195 sa Local Code nga kon dunay tax settlement nga intrahan ang city treasurer, mananghid pa siya sa city council,” he said.
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