TOURISM stakeholders are calling for their corporate taxes to be postponed as they seek to renew their business permits from local government units (LGUs) for 2021.

In a letter to Interior Minister Eduardo M. Año dated January 18, 2021, Jose C. Clemente III, President of the Philippines Congress of Tourism (TCP), said that as part of the renewal of their business permits, tourism actors had received an assessment of corporate tax fees “from their respective” LGUs. Clemente said most of these stakeholders are unable to pay these corporate taxes due to the current state of the tourism industry.

“Most of them only earned income in the first quarter of 2020, nothing after that. Some LGUs also base their assessment fees on 2019 revenue, ignoring 2020 terms and conditions, ”he added. Among the LGUs using 2019 income as the basis for this year’s assessment is the Manila City government, he said separately in a text message to BusinessMirror.

TCP urges the Department of Home Affairs and Local Government (DILG) to “postpone paying corporate taxes for 2021 amid the pandemic and its adverse effects on the tourism industry,” as stakeholders do not have the funds to pay for the reviews.

However, many LGUs have stated their inability to implement projects this year precisely because of poor corporate tax collection. DILG has yet to respond to TCP’s request, as Año is still indisposed, according to government sources.

The TCP application was approved by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat to Año in a separate letter dated January 19, 2021. She noted, “It can be remembered that in one of the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases] At meetings it was discussed that DILG would encourage LGUs to postpone paying local corporate taxes, taking into account the financial difficulties of certain companies. “

The TCP is the umbrella organization of tourism actors in the country licensed under the Republic Act 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009).

Business license renewal

Separately, the 612-strong Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) approached Romulo Puyat for help in finding a business permit renewal extension. The deadline for renewal ends on January 20th of each year.

In her January 16, 2021 letter to the DOT chief, the newly elected PTAA President Michelle Taylan said: “ Including business permits is becoming an added burden for them, especially after they had almost no income from the lockdown last year. “

International travel restrictions to control the spread of Covid-19 and its new variants continue to weigh on the local tourism industry, which attributes much of its revenue to foreign guests. This has resulted in a number of companies closing or half-operating their stores with their employees still working from home. Metro Manila hotels have a lifeline as they are allowed to accept quarantine guests and reopen their restaurants.

However, this wasn’t enough to keep the legendary Makati Shangri-La Manila open. It closed on February 1, 2021, “due to the continued low level of business.”

(See “Another Covid Victim: Makati Shang Closes The Doors In February” in BusinessMirror January 20, 2021.)

Another hotel, the 125-room Legend Villas in Mandaluyong City, announced its closure on its Facebook page on Monday. “For 28 years you have chosen us as part of your vacations and meetings. For 28 years we’ve been serving the most delicious Filipino home cooking on the subway. For 28 years we have witnessed countless milestones and celebrations of life. For 28 years our guest rooms have been your home away from home. We’ll keep all of this forever, ”the hotel management wrote on their social media accounts.

The hotel served as a quarantine facility for the return of Filipinos until December 2020. Legend also closed its Puerto Princesa property in November last year.

Marco Polo Davao was closed in June 2020 due to poor tourism prospects.

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