Bureau of Local Government Finance Opinion

September 7, 1998 BUREAU OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE OPINION Dr. Pastor F. Chavez, Jr. President, St. Joseph Properties, Inc. 59 Bulusan Street, La Loma Quezon City S i r : This refers to your request for assistance in interpreting the Revenue Code of Tagbilaran City also known as Ordinance No. 96-51 particularly Section 5F.01(8), the late Filing of Sworn Statement and its Penalty; and clarification on the following: 1.) "(I)s it within the Assessor's official duty to require a donation of roads and a re-designing of the subdivision plan prior to releasing of tax declarations? 2.) "(S)hould my request for the tax declarations of the new 'smaller land titles' be subjected to the penalty due to late filing of sworn statement? Anent Item No. 1, this Bureau is not aware of any rule, regulations or provisions of existing laws that impose such requirement prior to the release of tax declarations. With regard to your second query, Ordinance No. 96-51, particularly Section 5F.01(8), concerning the imposition of fines against the late filing of Sworn Statements, appears to have been adopted by that city that has taken effect on January 1, 1997 considering that the same was duly published on December 22, 1996, as evidenced by the attached copy of the affidavit executed by the publisher of Sunday Post. Such imposition has been adopted by the city of Tagbilaran in line with the provisions of Section 2.5 of Assessment Regulations No. 1-79 dated May 31, 1979, quoted hereunder: "SEC. 2.5. Imposition of fines upon failure to file within the prescribed periods the sworn statements declaring the true and current fair market value of real property . Any person required to file the sworn statements herein referred to within the prescribed period of filing shall upon conviction be punishable by a fine of not more than P1,000.00 or by imprisonment of not more than one year, or both, at the discretion of the court, as provided for under Section 104 of PD 464, as amended; Provided, however, that if a violator shall voluntarily agree to pay a fine without necessity of filing a case in court, the fines imposable upon him shall be as follows: HAaDcS "2.5.1 A standard fine of P10.00 if the sworn statement is filed within thirty days from the deadline; and "2.5.2 If the sworn statement is not filed by the person concerned within thirty days from the deadline, a fine equivalent to 1/4 of 1% of the entire assessed value of his real property or properties located in any one city or municipality, in addition to the standard fine of P10.00 prescribed under Section 2.5.1 hereof, provided, however, that the standard and additional fines together shall in no case be less than P15.00 nor more than P1,000.00." Section 5F.01(8) of Ordinance No. 96-51 is quoted hereunder: "Section 5F.01 Imposition of fees There shall be collected the following fees for the clearances and certifications issued by the City Assessor's Office: "xxx xxx xxx. "8) Late filing of sworn statement 10.00 + 1/4 of 1% of the assessed value. In no case be less than P15.00." The City Assessor, in his 4th Indorsement dated October 2, 1997 informed this Bureau that when the land titles of SJPI were presented to the Office of the City Assessor, 15 of which covering road lots were declared in the name of Tagbilaran City without having the same donated to the City. As a matter of procedure, the said City Assessor required your representatives to, either: 1) execute a deed of donation in favor of the City should they proceed to have their road lots declared in the name of Tagbilaran City; or 2) to request the Register of Deeds to retain ownership of SJPI properties considering that it really owns the subdivision without any intention to donate the same. Thereafter, the said titles covering the road lots were resubmitted to the Assessor's Office hearing the name of SJPI as owner and no longer Tagbilaran City. Furthermore, in a letter dated April 14, 1997, the said City Assessor submitted that sometime in the early 1995, Mr. John Manuel "Jojo" Minoza, your duly authorized representative, made a representation with the Office of the City Assessor for the issuance of tax declarations covering the 257 Transfer Certificate of Titles (TCTs) out of the total 274 resultant subdivided lots of SJPI which is located blocks away from the new Public Market and integrated Bus Terminal. However, a directive was allegedly given by the City Mayor through the City Planning and Development Officer (CPDO), that you should "amend and/or rectify the scheme of your subdivision because the same contravenes with the approved road network plan of the city's new Public Market and Integrated Bus Terminal," hence, the abovementioned request for the issuance of the said tax declarations was withdrawn. The said City Assessor also informed this Bureau that you agreed with the proposal of the said City Mayor to rectify your subdivision plan thereby giving way to a 20-meter wide road traversing the subject subdivision to and from the new market and terminal. Likewise, it is informed that you failed to comply with the directive of the said City Mayor, for reason that, according to your counsel, the re-survey of the subject subdivision would incur additional expenses of between P400,000.00 to P600,000.00 and that the City Government of Tagbilaran did not extend a helping hand to defray the cost to resurvey the same. The said request was again presented in 1997, the reason why the City Assessor's Office imposed a penalty for the late filing of sworn statement. Be that as it may, this Bureau finds the imposition of penalties for late filing of sworn statement, in order. However, it should be emphasized that since the required filing of sworn statement basically pertains to the subdivision of the mother parcel having a specific assessed value under its covering tax declaration, the fines imposable against SJPI should be specifically computed in accordance with the abovecited Section 5F.01(8) of Ordinance No. 96-51 of that city, that is: ASICDH Penalty = P10.00 + 1/4 of 1% of the assessed value of entire lot area = P10.00 + 0.25(.01)(P36,600.00) = P10.00 + P91.50 = P101.50 - filing fee to be paid We trust that this clarifies matters. Very truly yours, (SGD.) ANGELINA M. MAGSINO Deputy Executive Director Officer-in-Charge