Tacloban upbeat on exceeding P468M tax goal

TACLOBAN CITY, Nov. 6  – The city government here is optimistic of surpassing the PHP468-million tax collection target for the year with the recent launching of Electronic Payment Portal (ePP) and Online Assessment designed to make tax payment more convenient.

City Treasurer Zosima Cordaño said that cutting payment transaction time will bring more funds to the local government’s coffers.

“As of end of September, we have already collected PHP351 million local taxes, representing 25 percent of the target for 2017. With easier payment scheme, more people will be encouraged to pay their taxes in the last quarter of the year,” Cordaño said on Monday.

With the ePP, taxpayers don’t have to queue at the city hall for hours to do transactions since it can be done through smart phones and computers, according to the city official.

Taxpayers can conveniently pay online by accessing the ePP link at www.tacloban.gov.ph, which will then direct them to the Landbank ePP Website. First time users of the system will be assigned a default password which they can change anytime.

The EPP App can also be downloaded from Google Play and Apple App Store.

In a statement, Mayor Cristina Romualdez said the latest innovation of the local government, in partnership with Landbank of the Philippines, will allow taxpayers to pay their taxes through smartphones and other web-enabled devices.

“The ePP is our special way of showing how much we value our client. We are currently among the cities in the Philippines with online payment. We are also the first and only city as of now to offer an online assessment,” Romualdez said.

Hotel owner Oliver Cam, vice president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tacloban - Leyte chapter welcomed the innovation, which has been strongly pushed by the business sector.

The ePP service is in line with the 9th Resolution of the PCCI submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte during the recent 43rd Philippine Business Conference & Expo at the Manila Hotel last week, according to him

“Finally, not just the payment is online. All step on the entire of our business license and registration is finally done online,” Cam said.

The service is available to Landbank ATM and debit card holders, BancNet-member Banks Card 

holders and Gcash. A transaction fee of  PHP10 to PHP30 will be charged, depending on the mode of payment, according to the city government. (SQM/with reports from Mikaela Angelica Ramirez, OJT/PNA)