• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Bacolod City Permits and Licensing Division head, Stella Rose Rayos, said that they have issued 1,100 business permits out of around 9,800 registrations received as of Jan. 12, since the Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) started operations Jan. 2.
Rayos, in a press conference this morning, Jan. 15, at the City Mayor’s Office, said more than 9,000 of this year’s registrations are for renewal, and she urged other businesses to start processing their permits before the Jan. 20 BOSS deadline to avail of the 10 percent business tax discount.
Those who register after the deadline will have to pay a 25 percent surcharge, unless the Jan. 2-20 BOSS is extended by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, she said.
Rayos also said there was an eight percent increase in business registrations in 2023, compared to 2022.
She said there were about 25,300 registrations last year from the 23,000 logged in 2022. Of last year’s registrations, 21,200 plus were for renewal, and more than 3,000 were new businesses.
Rayos said the intensified inspections conducted led to more taxpayers becoming aware of their obligations, adding that several new businesses have also sprouted.
An applicant must go to ebpls.bacolodcity.gov.ph for online application and fill out the required forms, either for renewal or new permit. Since there were complaints over internet connectivity at the mall, Rayos said Mayor Alfredo Benitez decided on a hybrid business permit application, and encoding and assessment, among others, could be done either online or manually.
Benitez also earlier issued Executive Order 70, instructing all 61 barangays to participate in the BOSS, since the barangay clearance is one of the requirements in the renewal or new business permit application.
“It is imperative for the City to simplify the processing of business permits by imposing a system where transaction time can be efficiently cut short,” the mayor said in the EO, adding that all barangays shall set up their own offsite tables at the mall for the duration of the BOSS.
The “no-noon break” policy shall be observed, and each barangay shall assign at least two personnel to man their offsite tables and shall be responsible in processing the issuance of barangay clearances, Benitez added. | CGC
