G.R. No. 210551 June 30, 2015
FACTS
Respondent Quezon City Council enacted an ordinance,
Socialized Housing Tax of Quezon City, which will collect 0.5% on the assessed
value of land in excess of Php 100,000.00. This shall accrue to the Socialized
Housing Programs of the Quezon City Government. The special assessment shall go
to the General Fund under a special account to be established for the purpose.
On the other hand, Ordinance No. SP-2235 and S-2013 was enacted collecting
garbage fees on residential properties which shall be deposited solely and
exclusively in an earmarked special account under the general fund to be
utilized for garbage collections. Petitioner, a Quezon City property owner, questions the validity of the said
ordinances.
ISSUES
1. Whether the Socialized
Housing Tax is valid.
2. Whether the ordinance on
Garbage Fee violates the rule on double taxation.
RULING
1. The SHT is valid. The tax is
within the power of Quezon City Government to impose. LGUs may be considered as
having properly exercised their police power only if there is a lawful subject
and a lawful method. Herein, the tax is not a pure exercise of taxing power or
merely to raise revenue; it is levied with a regulatory purpose. The levy is
primarily in the exercise of the police power for the general welfare of the
entire city. It is greatly imbued with public interest. On the question of
inequality, the disparities between a real property owner and an informal
settler as two distinct classes are too obvious and need not be discussed at
length. The differentiation conforms to the practical dictates of justice and
equity and is not discriminatory within the meaning of the Constitution.
Notably, the public purpose of a tax may legally exist even if the motive which
impelled the legislature to impose the tax was to favor one over another.
Further, the reasonableness of Ordinance No. SP-2095 cannot be disputed. It is
not confiscatory or oppressive since the tax being imposed therein is below
what the UDHA actually allows. Even better, on certain conditions, the
ordinance grants a tax credit.
2. No. Pursuant to Section 16
of the LGC and in the proper exercise of its corporate powers under Section 22
of the same, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Quezon City, like other local
legislative bodies, is empowered to enact ordinances, approve resolutions, and
appropriate funds for the general welfare of the city and its inhabitants. In
this regard, the LGUs shall share with the national government the
responsibility in the management and maintenance of ecological balance within
their territorial jurisdiction. The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of
2000, affirms this authority as
it expresses that the LGUs shall be primarily responsible for the
implementation and enforcement of its provisions. Necessarily, LGUs are statutorily
sanctioned to impose and collect such reasonable fees and charges for services
rendered. The fee imposed for garbage collections under Ordinance No. SP-2235
is a charge fixed for the regulation of an activity as provided by the same. As
opposed to petitioner’s opinion, the garbage fee is not a tax. Hence, not being
a tax, the contention that the garbage fee under Ordinance No. SP-2235 violates
the rule on double taxation
must necessarily fail.
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