7/28/2019 Villanueva vs Iloilo digest

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Villanueva vs City of Iloilo

FACTS: Relying on the passage ofRA 2264or the Local Autonomy Act, Iloilo enactedOrdinance 11 Series of 1960, imposing a municipal license tax on tenement houses in

accordance with the schedule of payment provided by therein. Villanueva and the other appellees

are apartment owners from whom the city collected license taxes by virtue of Ordinance 11.Appellees aver that the said ordinance is unconstitutional for RA 2264 does not empower cities

to impose apartment taxes; that the same is oppressive and unreasonable for it penalizes those

who fail to pay the apartment taxes; that it constitutes not only double taxation but trebletaxation; and, that it violates uniformity of taxation.

Issues:1. Does the ordinance impose double taxation?

2. Is Iloilo city empowered by RA 2264 to impose tenement taxes?

Held:

1. While it is true that appellees are taxable under the NIRC as real estate dealers, and taxableunder Ordinance 11, double taxation may not be invoked. This is because the same tax may be

imposed by the national government as well as by the local government. The contention thatappellees are doubly taxed because they are paying real estate taxes and the tenement tax is also

devoid of merit. A license tax may be levied upon a business or occupation although the land or

property used in connection therewith is subject to property tax. In order to constitute doubletaxation, both taxes must be the same kind or character. Real estate taxes and tenement taxes are

not of the same character.

2. RA 2264 confers local governments broad taxing powers. The imposition of the tenement

taxes does not fall within the exceptions mentioned by the same law. It is argued however that

the said taxes are real estate taxes and thus, the imposition of more the 1 per centum real estatetax which is the limit provided byCA 158, makes the said ordinance ultra vires. The court ruledthat the tax in question is not a real estate tax. It does not have the attributes of a real estate tax.

By the title and the terms of the ordinance, the tax is a municipal tax which means an imposition

or exaction on the right to use or dispose of property, to pursue a business, occupation or calling,or to exercise a privilege. Tenement houses being offered for rent or lease constitute a distinct

form of business or calling and as such, the imposition of municipal tax finds support in Section

2 of RA 2264.

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