To make tax payments available in malls and more convenient for citizens, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has signed an agreement with Robinsons Land Corp., one of the largest mall operators in the country, to establish the city’s business centers in three of its malls.
Through the partnership, the business centers will open in Robinsons Galleria, Magnolia, and Novaliches malls in January 2020 to accept real-property tax assessments and payments and local business tax payments.
“We are pursuing the installation of payment kiosks in strategic places with heavy foot traffic, like malls, because we want to make our citizens’ lives easier. This is just one of our approaches to bring our government closer to the people,” Belmonte said.
“At the same time, through this, we’ll be able to empower our business owners, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises, by giving them an easier, time-saving way of managing their business,” she added.
The mayor, along with city treasurer Edgar Villanueva, signed the agreement with Robinsons Land Corp. executive vice president Faraday Go and senior vice president Arlene Magtibay.
Belmonte assured citizens planning to settle their dues they would no longer endure long queues at city hall when the business center kiosks in malls are finally opened.
The mayor invited the citizens to dine and shop afterward as a way of patronizing mall concessionaires, whom she calls the “lifeblood” of the city.
Talks with Mallers Management Corp. and Ayala Corp. for the establishment of the other business centers in Fisher Mall and Fairview Terraces, respectively, are already in the pipeline.
“Hopefully, we can have our business centers set up and start operating in malls by January 2020 because that’s when we’re anticipating a large influx of taxpayers,” Villanueva said.