What I-Café Owner Pays For Business Permit

This is the period, January 02 – 20 of each year, for renewing business permit with your local government unit (LGU), a city or a town. What actually are you paying for in order to get your permission to operate a i-café? These are stated in the Order of Payment or Assessment Slip given to you after you submit your Application for Renewal of Business Permit together with the requirements stated therein.

For those who failed to scrutinize the breakdown of fees you paid or have to pay in order to get a new business permit issued for your i-café, here are they as far as I can remember. The figures for each item vary according to the local revenue regulations of each town or city.

A) Local Tax – This is usually the biggest figure in your Order for Payment. It is derived either based on the gross revenue you declared for the previous year or the Predictive Income Level (PIL) that your LGU has established for the business you are engaged in. The rate of local tax is normally 2 to 3% of the gross sales of the business.

B) Administrative Fees – These are what you pay for the services to be rendered by the different departments of your LGU before you get the certificates and clearances required before you are issued a business permit.

• Fire Safety Inspection – A fixed fee paid for the Fire Department (actually not an LGU unit) for conducting the inspection of your café to determine its compliance to the Fire Safety Code of the Philippines. Make sure to find more info about fire barrier construction and do accordingly. A Fire Safety Certificate must be issued to you within the current year to show your compliance to the code.
• Engineering Inspection – Normally based on the electrical loads in your i-café, the fee is paid for the inspection that the Engineering personnel  will do to see your compliance to various national and local regulations regarding the design and construction of your i-café premises. An Engineering Inspection Certificate must follow after they found your café to be compliant to the rules.
• Health and Sanitary Inspection – To be conducted by the Health Department, a Sanitary Inspection Certificate must be issued to you after satisfactory findings on your compliance to regulations.
• Garbage Collection Fee – The amount to be paid is based on the area in square meters of your i-café. This is what you pay for your LGU’s effort to periodically collect the garbage that your café generates.

I may have missed some of the fees that your LGU collects in connection with the renewal of your business permit. Please add them to this topic by way of comments. Questions are also welcome.