SM pays P450M lot for mall in Urdaneta City

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY – Move over Dagupan City, this burgeoning city would be eclipsing the former as it hosts a Top 500 Corporation SM Prime Holding, Inc (SMPHI) that has bought lands in Brgy. Anonas here worth hundreds of millions of pesos.

According to a top brass of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, who asked anonymity, SMPHI paid last year P39 million capital gain taxes at the BIR Revenue District Office-6 (RDO-6) based in this city after owners of the lands consolidated themselves and sold their lots for the Sys’ controlled corporation.

“SM plans to put a mall there. We will be building our new BIR office there, too. The distance of our office and SM is 1.9 kilometers only from the city proper”.

According to the source, SMPHI purchased the lands at Brgy. Anonas for P450 million. As a result of this transaction, the collection of RDO-6 last year spiked as SMPHI and the sellers paid P39 million in capital gain tax.

 SM lands and the tax agency’s new office will be near the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Express Way (TPLEX).

Meanwhile, RDO-6 chief Nasrollah B. Conding lauded the generosity of businessman Ernesto Go and wife who donated 1,200 square meters of lot for the new BIR office.

Conding said that the people in Western Pangasinan who are clientele of RDO-6 would be forever indebted with the Go’s generosity.

“He has still 3000 square meters of land left there.  BIR and Go’s properties are near the Flying Fish Restaurant. They are all in the same highway where motorists from Manila to Baguio pass by and vice versa”.

RDO-6 is presently renting a small congested building located at FF Square Brgy. Nancayan  here.