The Makati City government on Saturday announced it is set to auction off real properties of owners who failed to settle tax obligation totaling P1.73 billion.
City chief legal officer Michael Camiña said the auction date will be finalized by the Office of the City Treasurer.
He reminded all concerned property owners to act promptly to settle their dues or lose their property altogether.
“We are calling on all property owners with delinquent real property tax payments to immediately settle your outstanding obligations with the city. We are definitely going to auction off properties that remain delinquent despite several notices to the owners, including public notices in the newspapers,” Camiña said.
Makati has a total of P5.50-billion tax delinquency, but only delinquent properties “without restrictions” totaling P1.73 billion will be put up for auction.
Delinquent properties in the city “with restrictions” with tax delinquency amounting to P3.76 billion are those that cannot be auctioned off because of various impediments, such as legal disputes, government properties, and street lots.
These include the Metro Rail Transit with around P2 billion in outstanding tax obligation to the city and a pending court case.
Camiña also reminded those who have bought properties in Makati to promptly register the transfer of ownership and update their tax declaration with the Assessment Department (Assessor’s Office) at the 2nd floor of Makati City Hall.
“The Treasurer’s Office has encountered a number of cases where billing notices remain undelivered as the owner cannot be located in the address on record. It may be because the property already has a new owner, and yet our official city records still reflect the name and address of the previous owner,” Camiña said.
He said the new property owner should take the initiative to put the records of ownership in order and fulfill his or her obligation to pay the correct RPT amount on the due date. Otherwise, the property will continue to incur penalties and the payable amount will balloon over time.
“It is the responsibility of the new owner of a real property to update official records with City Hall and pay the correct amount of the tax due based on the assessed value of the property,” Camiña said.
“We have waited long enough, and to postpone the auction any longer would be a disservice to the people of Makati, who stand to benefit from the substantial amount of additional revenue to be generated,” he added.
