• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Bacolod City government has collected P521.2 million from taxpayers, as of Jan. 20, in the ongoing Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) operation at the Government Center lobby.
Acting City Treasurer Gary Gecosala said the collection is 28.88 percent higher than the P404.4 million collected in the same period of last year’s BOSS.
With the BOSS operation extended until Feb. 15, Gecosala said the city will surpass last year’s collection of P548 million for the whole 27 days of BOSS. “We still have around 15 days na BOSS so we’re expecting that we’ll surpass last year’s (collection).”
Highest one-day collection was logged Jan. 20 at P205.8 million from 3,401 clients, which was also the last day for taxpayers to avail of a 10-percent discount for one-time full payment of assessed business tax.
Those making a one-time payment from Jan. 21 to Feb. 15 will have no discount but will also not incur any penalty.
Gecosala also said that while the number of business tax processed, so far, decreased, the increase in collection was attributed to higher gross sales of taxpayers, hence the bigger payment.
There were 15,566 businesses registered, as of Jan. 20, in the BOSS, 14,910 of them for renewal. In the same period last year, the number of registrants stood at 15,384.
Bacolod Permits and Licensing Division head Stella Rose Rayos said in a press conference Jan. 21 that they have already issued 3,704 permits this year, compared to 3,004 in the same period last year.
A total of 24,690 businesses registered in 2024, and 19,523 of those were renewals. Those given permits reached 21,128.
Rayos said she expects more businesses to complete the requirements and secure their permits until Feb. 15.
This year’s BOSS started Jan. 2 at the Government Center, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday. | CGC
