The question is, do they have the money to pay it off?
“The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) instructed the Manila Pavilion Hotel to pay the city government of Manila PHP45.5 million in back taxes,” reports Jun Ramirez in the Manila Bulletin.
The report explained that the hotel’s tax debts “arose from the earnings derived by the hotel for leasing portion of the multistorey building to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporations (PAGCOR) for its casino operations, including lodging for its personnel as well as food and drinks for customers.” Citing the PAGCOR charter, the hotel had argue that its earnings from the casino was exempt from business tax.
However, in its 14-page decision, the CTA stated that the tax exemption only covered PAGCOR itself and not local taxes. This is good news to Manila City Hall officials, as the city has outstanding debts of more than PHP3.8 billion, mostly electric and water bills.
Photo from Manila Pavillion Facebook Page
