COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 462 - AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS TWENTY-SEVEN AND TWENTY-EIGHT AND THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF SECTION TWENTY-NINE OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DAVAO, RELATIVE TO TAXES ON REAL ESTATE IN THE SAID CITY |
Section
1. Sections twenty-seven and twenty-eight and the first paragraph of
section twenty-nine of Commonwealth Act Numbered Fifty-one, entitled
"An Act creating the City of Davao," are amended to read as
follows: "Section27. Taxes on real estate.
– A tax, the rate per centum, to be determined by the City Council,
shall be levied annually on or before the second Monday of February on
the assessed value of all real estate in the city subject to taxation.
Taxes shall be due and payable annually on and after the first day of
March. "At the option of the taxpayer, the tax for any year may be paid in two installments to be fixed annually by the City Council simultaneously with the rate per centum of ad valorem taxation: Provided, That the time limit for the first and second installments shall be set at not later than the thirty-first day of May and the thirtieth day of November of each year, respectively. "Any person who, on the last day
set for the payment of the real estate tax as provided in the preceding
paragraph, shall be within the premises of the municipal building
willing and ready to pay the tax but is unable to effect it on account
of the large number of taxpayers therein present, shall be furnished a
properly prescribed card that will permit him to pay the tax the
following day without penalty. "If the property owner is not in position to pay the total amount of taxes due on real estate in his or her name, partial payment may be made on account of one or more lots, or part thereof. "The words 'paid under protest' shall be written upon the face of the real estate tax receipt on request of any person willing to pay the tax under protest. Confirmation in writing of an oral protest shall be made within thirty days. "At the expiration of the time
for the payment of the real estate tax without penalty, the taxpayer
shall be subject, from the first day of delinquency, to the payment of
a penalty at the rate of two per centum for each full month of
delinquency due, on the amount of the original tax due, until the tax
shall have been paid in full or until the property shall have been
forfeited to the city as provided in section thirty-one hereof:
Provided, That in no case shall the total penalty exceed twenty-four
per centum of the original tax due: And provided, further, That the
provisions of this section shall be applicable to such delinquencies of
real estate taxes as may be existing on the date of the approval of
this Act. "In the event that the crop is extensively damaged or that a great lowering of the prices of products is registered in any year, the City Council may, by resolution passed on or before the thirty-first day of December of such year, remit wholly or in part the payment of the tax or penalty for the ensuing year; but such resolution shall have to specify clearly the grounds for such remission and shall not take effect till it shall have been approved by the Secretary of Finance. "The President of the Philippines may, in his discretion, remit or reduce the real estate taxes for any year in the City of Davao, if he deems this to be in the public interest. "Section28. Taxes on real estate
– Sale of personal property. – In the event that such tax and penalty
shall remain unpaid one month after payment thereof shall have become
due, the city treasurer shall prepare and sign a certified copy of the
records of his office, showing the person delinquent in payment of the
taxes and the amounts of tax and penalty respectively due from them. He
shall proceed at once to seize the personal property of each
delinquent, and, unless redeemed as hereinafter provided, to sell at
public auction, either at the main entrance of the municipal building
or at the place where such property is seized, as he shall determine,
so much of the same as shall satisfy the tax, penalty, and costs of
seizure and sale, to the highest bidder for cash, after due
advertisement by notice posted stating the time, place, and cause of
sale. The certified copy of the city treasurer's record of delinquents
shall be his warrant for his proceedings, and the purchaser at such
sale shall acquire an indefeasible title to the property sold. Within
two days after the sale the city treasurer shall make return of his
proceedings and spread it upon his records. Any surplus resulting from
the sale, over and above the tax, penalty and costs, shall be returned
to the taxpayer on account of whose delinquency the sale has been made.
It shall not be essential to the validity of taxes of real estate
hereunder that the city treasurer shall have attempted to make out of
the personal property of the taxpayer the tax due upon his real estate.
The remedy provided herein for the collection of taxes upon real estate
by levying upon the personal property of the taxpayer shall be deemed
cumulative only. The owner of the personal property seized may redeem
the same from the collecting officer at any time after seizure and
before sale by tendering to him the amount of the tax, the penalty, and
costs incurred upon to the time of tender. The costs to be charged in
making such seizure and sale shall only embrace the actual expense of
seizure and preservation of the property pending the sale, and no
charge shall be imposed for the services of the collecting officer or
his deputy. "Section29. Taxes on real estate.
– Liens. – Sale of real property. – Taxes and penalties assessed
against real property shall constitute a lien thereon, which lien shall
be superior to all other liens, mortgages, or encumbrances of any kind
whatsoever; shall be enforceable against the property whether in the
possession of the delinquent or any subsequent owner, and can only be
removed by the payment of the tax and penalty. The lien for the taxes
shall attach to the real property from the first day of March of the
year in which the taxes are due. In addition to the last mentioned
procedure the city treasurer may, upon the warrant of the certified
record required in the last preceding section, one month following the
date of delinquency, advertise the real estate of the delinquent for
sale, or so much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy all public
taxes upon said property as above, and costs of sale, for a period of
thirty days." Section2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. |