Davao delivery rivers to be exempt from business permit
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 4 Dec) – Delivery riders here are rejoicing as they will be just a step away from being finally exempted from paying business permits, saving them around P3,000 to P4,000 per year.
Expected to be passed on its third and final reading on Thursday, the city council passed on Tuesday in its second reading an ordinance mandating delivery riders to pay only P125 annually for occupational fee, thus removing their business permit fees.
Occupational fees must be paid on or before Jan. 31.
The councilors voted unanimously to pass the ordinance in the second reading.
“Nakuha na gyud namo ang amoang gipaningkamutan nga makab-an na ang amoang business permit, ug mapulihan ug bag-o nga ihatag sa amoa… para sa among occupational permit (We are glad that we finally got our goal – to stop us from paying business permit, and pay only for occupational permit),” Jeffrey Cuyos, secretary of the United Davao Delivery Riders Association (UDDRA), told reporters outside the Sangguniang Panlungsod Tuesday morning.
Cuyos emphasized anew that being a delivery rider, they had been longing and lobbying to the city government to remove their business permit requirements as “we are not business people, we are under our employers.”
Most delivery riders in Davao are working with Grab, FoodPanda, Maxim, among others.
Together with other UDDRA members, Cuyos stayed outside the Sangguniang Panlungsod, thinking that they will be just called later, as city councilors are discussing “more important things.”
Cuyos only knew about the development when the media emerged from the SP, and then told his colleagues instantly about the “good news.” All of them cheered and shouted “Yehey!”
“Thank you kaayo, Mayor Baste [Duterte]. Thank you kaayo, city council, dako kaayo among kalipay (Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, city council, we are very happy),” a group of delivery riders shouted upon receiving the news.
Minutes later, together with former city councilor Pamela Librado, the riders went to the session hall to personally thank Councilor Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, the chairperson of the committee on finance, and the committee on ways and means and appropriations. Ortiz is the proponent of the proposed amendment to the city’s revenue code.
Delivery riders were allowed to attend the session, despite the ordinance being approved earlier during the second reading. Later, some city councilors in attendance and Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain congratulated them personally.
In their earlier interviews with the media, UDDRA credited Librado, who is seeking a city council seat in the next elections, for helping them during their legal battles against FoodPanda Philippines.
Now, Cuyos said he will be crediting “this victory” to the mayor together with Librado, the local media, and their delivery rider colleagues.
Exempting delivery riders from paying business permits will start in January 2025, where deadline for renewal of business permits will be on the last day of the month.
According to the proposed amendment, delivery riders who failed to pay occupational permits will have to pay 25 percent of surcharge starting February 1.
The city’s revenue code was passed in 2017 but amended in 2021 when former city councilor Danilo “Danny” Dayanghirang Sr. proposed that delivery riders be required business permits, among other changes. His move was finalized in City Ordinance 0612-21.
Legalities of the ordinance amendment
UDDRA’s position paper dated Nov. 5 mentioned Supreme Court decisions, such as Dilangkin et.al. vs. Lazada (2022) and Fuentes et al. vs. Lazada E-Services Philippines, Inc. (2022), as basis for their plea to exempt them from getting business permits.
In the committee report of the ordinance dated Feb. 28 and May 15, 2024, the city council also referenced the aforementioned Supreme Court decision for delivery riders to pay occupational permits and to exempt them from paying business permits.
Ortiz said that one of the delivery riders, Dexter Guadalquiver, said that if possible, they “desire to be exempted” from paying all necessary fees, but if not feasible, “they will be willing to pay for occupational permit.”
Ortiz also referenced Section 6.2 of a Joint Memorandum Circular No. 01, Series of 2021 between Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) entitled “Guidelines for Processing Business Permits, Related Clearances and Licenses in All Cities and Municipalities.”
The circular states that exempted to pay business permits are professionals who have already paid the professional tax in the locality where they practice, except for those who own clinics for his/her practice; individuals or those registered in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a One Person Corporation (OPC) who provides personal services with no business rental space; service contractors providing temporary or outsourced services outside the LGU where it registered its principal office or branch.
The ordinance also referenced the Department of Finance’s Local Finance Circular No. 001-2022 entitled “Guidelines on the Imposition of Local Business Tax, Fees and Charges to Service Contractors,” clarifying that “a service contractor providing temporary and outsourced personnel, including personnel who are in a telecommuting or in a work-from-home (WFH) arrangement, for its client in an LGU where it does not maintain any office, shall not be liable to pay Mayor’s or Business Permit Fee.”
Meanwhile, the proposed amendment of Section 97 of the Davao City revenue code stated that owners or operators of delivery applications shall not accept individuals, in this instance, delivery riders, to associate with them if they did not secure an occupational permit from the city.
In the 2021 version, it stated that delivery riders must pay business permit, barangay clearance, tax clearance, delivery vehicle sticker, health certificate fee, laboratory fees, and other fees, as they were then called “independent service contractors” who only worked together with food delivery companies with “service agreement.”
The revised Section 79 of the revenue code also stated that a delivery rider, as a service contractor working with a client, in this instance, the food delivery company, will not be liable to pay any business tax.
“The various committees deemed it proper for removal of the business permit fee and instead focused on a more reasonable solution, such as paying for an occupational permit. This would help reduce unnecessary costs for riders while still ensuring that they are properly registered and compliant with local regulations,” Ortiz said in her speech during the presentation to pass her ordinance in the second reading.
“Such a change would acknowledge their important role while easing the burden currently faced by these riders in the old ordinance,” she added. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
No comments:
Post a Comment