The Makati City government on Tuesday announced it has exceeded its 2022 tax collection target by 16 percent, mustering a total revenue of P20.9 billion.
Mayor Abigail Binay said revenue collections from local taxpayers increased by nine percent compared to 2021.
“Things are definitely looking up for the city. The significant increase in our locally-sourced revenue collection from business and real property taxes in 2022 is a clear sign of the strong trust and confidence of Makati residents and the business community in the city government,” Binay said.
“We thank our taxpayers and investors for their unstinting support and cooperation as we gradually recover from the pandemic. We can confidently look forward to a more robust and sustainable local economy this year,” she added.
The mayor said Makati’s continuing financial stability will ensure the continuous delivery of quality services to residents, and the effective implementation of major programs aimed to accelerate Makati’s transformation into a smart city.
City treasurer Jesusa Cuneta reported that the bulk of collections came from businesses who paid a total of P9.13 billion, up by 10 percent over 2021. She said real property taxes came in second with P8.14 billion, representing a seven-percent growth over the previous year.
Cuneta said revenues generated from realty taxes surpassed the target by 70 percent, attributing the improvement to an intensive information drive among villages and condominiums.
The campaign tapped the assistance of barangay officials, as well as building and condominium management, Cuneta said.
“We are thankful to our barangay officials who even took charge of the delivery of notices to concerned taxpayers,” she said.
Meanwhile, revenue from other local sources also increased, including fees and charges hit P744.2 million, and economic enterprises contributing P340.7 million.
Records of the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) showed that there have been 4,439 new business registrants and 34,590 business permit renewals during the year. New enterprises chalked up a total of P29.02 billion in capital investments.
Registered businesses in the city also reported total sales of P1.42 trillion in 2022.
In October last year, Makati was awarded as one of the top two performing local government units (LGUs) in the country, and the same accolade among Metro Manila LGUs based on the 2021 locally sourced revenues. The city was also recognized as Local Revenue Generation Hall of Famer based on its revenue generated from local sources from 2018 to 2020.
Under Binay’s watch since July 2016, the city government has implemented reforms to ease business registration and promote transparency, including an aggressive campaign against fixers.
For five straight years, the local government received an “unmodified opinion” from the Commission on Audit after a review of its annual financial statements for fiscal years 2017 to 2021.
In June 2020 at the height of the pandemic, the city established the Makatizen Online Assessment and Payment Portal through which residents and business owners can pay their real property and business taxes, using their smartphones or laptops. This eliminated the need for them to go to the city hall and suffer the hassles of queuing up before the counters.
In October 2021, Makati launched its first satellite office, the Makatizen Hub, at the fourth floor of SM Makati. Last December, the facility was transferred to a bigger area at the third floor of the mall, where it is open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Among the services offered are Makatizen Card application, issuance of Individual Mayor’s Permit and Health Certificate, updating of vaccination record and issuance of digital vaccination certificate, and payment of business and realty taxes.