Business bureau extends operating hours

To help taxpayers and business owners avoid surcharges on top of their business permit application and renewal fees, the Davao City Business Bureau (CBB) will be extending its processing hours before the 2023 cut-off on January 31.

CBB Head Maribel Paguican said that for the first two working days of January, the Business Bureau was met with many business tax payers hoping to catch the deadline for business permit issuance.

“As of two days processing, we were able to generate 5,323 applications. If you compare that to last year’s performance, there is an increase of almost 1,000 in applications,” Paguican said during the I-Speak media forum on Thursday.

To make the permits application process more convenient, the CBB called on taxpayers to process their permits online through the CBB’s online application system. She said online processing and payments will not only decongest the bureau’s processing centers but will also speed up the process for the applicants.

However, those who are unable to access the bureau’s online platform may go to the nearest CBB one-stop shop. The one-stop shop is a streamlined processing service that aims to save taxpayer’s time and money by simplifying the business permit application process and removing unnecessary steps to the assessment process.

“We gave some relaxation to our requirements, like the barangay clearance— this is no longer a requirement because it is already incorporated in our one-time assessment and one-time payment. No need to go to other locations. We call this a one-stop shop,” Paguican said.

There are Business Bureau one-stop shops in the Sangguniang Panlungsod building, Almendras Gym, NCCC Mall Buhangin, Calinan Gym as well as in the District Treasury Offices in Toril, Tugbok, Bunawan, Baguio, Marilog, and Paquibato.

Paguican said that operating hours at these locations are extended from Mondays to Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The bureau will also be operating on January 29 (Sunday) from 8 a.m to 5 p.m.

On January 31, the cut-off day for business permit processing for the year 2023, the CBB will be extending its operating hours for its one-stop shops in the SP building and Almendras Gym from 8 a.m to 10 p.m., while the one-stop shop NCCC Mall Buhangin will be open from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. The one-stop shops in the Calinan Gym as well as the ones in the District Treasury Offices of Toril, Tugbok, and Bunawan will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. CIO