Megaworld pays city P9 M transfer tax
City Mayor Jerry Treñas has all the reasons to smile after Megaworld Corporation yesterday paid the P9 million transfer tax to the City Treasurers Office (CTO) for the 54-hectare old Iloilo airport. The payment could help in the city's current financial state.
The report regarding the payment was relayed yesterday by CTO chief Katherine Tingson and Atty. Giovanni Miraflores of the City Legal Office (CLO) to the mayor. The payment for the transfer tax was in form of a check.
Transfer tax is a tax on the passing of title of property from one person or entity to another. It is essentially a transaction fee often relatively small in relation to the value of the property imposed on the transfer of title. The city's share was based on the ¾ of the 1 percent of the total value of the property sold to Megaworld which is P1.2 billion.
Treñas said the paid amount will be included in the General Budget and could be used as basis for the approval of supplemental budget. He said the fund could alleviate the deficit in the city's financial needs from October until December this year.
Meanwhile, Secretary Margarito Teves and former Department of Finance (DoF) Secretary John Philip Sevilla are among those who will attend this Friday's local signing of agreement for the purchase of the property.
The Megaworld will also present its plan for the old airport site in Mandurriao. Initially, Megaworld will have an initial investment of P1.5 billion. They hired the services of Palafox and Associates to come up with a master plan in the old airport site. Palafox was given one month time to submit the master plan.