On the advent of an increase in the fair market values of land in Quezon City, various trade organizations have asked the city government to extend tax incentives to micro, small and medium enterprises.
Rafael Canare, executive director of the Association of the Filipino Franchisers Inc., called on Mayor Herbert Bautista to look into the MSMEs’ predicament in the event the bill adjusting the fair market land values and basic construction cost is passed by the 38-member city council.
Canare, however, clarified that AFFI backed the fair market value adjustment.
“Yes, we support it,” he said. “It has been a long time since the last increase.”
Small businesses may bear the brunt of the expected increase in leasing fees to be imposed by malls and commercial buildings that would be affected by the tax adjustment, Canare said.
He said the 200-member AFFI—an organization of small- and medium-scale business franchisees—are hoping for tax incentives, since 80 percent of the group operate their franchises in Quezon City, mostly as tenants in malls.
AFFI, SM Prime Holdings and Megaworld Corp. were among the city-based business establishments that participated during the November 24 public consultation that threshed out the details of the proposed Ordinance No. 20CC-141 that would pave the way for the fair market values’ revision.
Fe Wong, tax officer of SM Prime Holdings, the parent company of the SM Group’s shopping malls, said they will submit a position paper to express support for the tax adjustment.
“We are definitely very supportive of this measure. We have always been supportive of the endeavors of the city government as long as it is beneficial to us and to the interests of our clientele, tenants, and buyers,” Megaworld corporate advisory and compliance division manager John Joseph Sy said.
According to District 3 Councilor Allan Benedict Reyes, ways and means committee chairman, senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) would greatly benefit from the additional revenues earned from the land value adjustment. The added taxes would mean more socio-development projects for hundreds of thousands of the elders and PWDs in the city, he added.
With the “minimal” tax increase equivalent to a “one-month cell phone load,” Reyes said the city government is eyeing to erect a new hospital in Barangay Batasan in District 2.
