Bizmen using Paleng-QR digital payment system urged to claim tax discount

Businessmen currently using Paleng-QR PH program cashless payment system were urged to claim their tax discount from the City Government as their incentive in adopting the digital payment program of the government.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said that pursuant to City Council Ordinance No. 71 series of 2022, businesses that will provide QR PH cashless service as alternative mode of payment will be entitled to a one-time 2.5 percent discount in their business taxes on the first year of adoption.

Qualified businessmen can have their QR codes verified at the Permits and Licensing Division (PLD) to avail of the discount.

Those who have already paid their business taxes for the year can have their QR codes verified at the PLD and they will be issued incentive coupons for the discount to be deducted from their tax payment next year.

The QR codes must be in the name of the business owner and if not in the name of the business owner, businesses owned by corporations or partnerships must present a resolution and if sole proprietorship, an authorization letter may be presented.

As per the records of Permits and Licensing Division (PLD), there are approximately 23,000 business establishments in the city with business permits and as of Feb. 22, 2023, a total of 11,688 have renewed their permits and a total of 351 new businesses have registered.

At the city market where the Paleng-QR system is strongly advocated, there are more or less 4,000 businesses, around 50 percent of which had registered in the QR cashless payment system based on the survey conducted by the City Treasury Office.

City officials enjoined all business establishments and local public transportation in the city to adopt QR PH digital system as alternative mode of payment in line with the national and local governments’ digitization program.

The Paleng-QR Ph cashless payment program was deployed at the city market in August 2022 with the offline cash transactions handled by top financial service providers (FSP) Gcash and Maya and online transactions like Online Marketplace and delivery by Unionbank.

Landbank online takes charge of the e-gov cashless online transactions.

A joint project of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Dept. of Interior and Local Government, the program aims to facilitate cashless transactions in public markets and transportation.

The DILG said QR Ph will serve as the national QR code standard to pave the way for faster and easier mobile payment transactions. It can be used for person-to-person (P2P) or person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions.

With QR Ph, small businesses need not have expensive equipment like point of sale (POS) terminals to receive digital payment.

Through QR Ph, merchants can print and share their QR codes which their customers can scan. – Aileen P. Refuerzo