BIR’s Zonal Valuation Least Sensitive to the Masses

COMPARED TO THOSE COLLECTED BY THE ASSESSORS

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan – The increase of the zonal valuation (ZV) of real property taxes (RPT) by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is least sensitive to the masses than those collected by the Assessors in the local government units (LGUs).

Revenue District Office No. 6 Chief Maria Bernadette Mangaoang said that those expanding ZV on the taxpayer who pay their dues to the government through estate, income, donor, capital gains, documentary stamp, percentage, value added, and other taxes are least burdensome compared to the RPT paid by the resident of a town and a city to the LGUs.

Real estate tax in the Philippines or RPT is an obligation that a resident pay annually if he/she owns a property like house and land. It is imposed by the LGU as specified under the Local Government Code. RPT is a way to increase funding for the LGU for it provides basic public services to the people there.

Mangaoang added the public did not take offense when the BIR consulted them on the soar of the ZV because those who are affected are the taxpayers through their BIR related taxes.

“Pag wala naman kayong transaction sa BIR, remember pag walang namatay, walang donation walang sale hindi ka apektado,” she explained.

Mangaoang said many LGUs did not regularly increase their real property taxes because of the negative financial impact to their constituents.

These constituents can vote them out in office if the new RPT will heavily burden them.

She said that her fifteen towns and one city’s supervised RDO in Eastern Pangasinan prepares another increase of the ZV so the government can have more revenues to fund its projects and programs.

After she and her staff set up the draft of the zonal valuation and send it to the regional office in Calasiao, Pangasinan for evaluation it would then be scrutinized by the national tax office in Quezon City and the Department of Finance.

“It is still in the sub technical committee in the RDO-6,” she said.

The sub technical committee is composed of the RDO Chief, the Assistant Revenue District Office Chief as the vice chair, the municipal or city's assessors, and private appraisers.

Mangaoang said that it takes time before the ZV will be final and executory because of the offices and their respective actions.

Meanwhile, the tax goal this year of the Eastern Pangasinan tax office - as imposed to it by the government - will be P1.741 billion.

“From January to July this year our collection was up by 7.61% (to the given target for that semester),” Mangaoang told this writer.