MALACAŅANG
M a n i l a
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 231 July 1, 1973
ENACTING A LOCAL TAX CODE FOR PROVINCES, CITIES, MUNICIPALITIES AND BARRIOS
WHEREAS, the Constitution under Section 5, Article XI, enjoins that "Each local government unit shall have the power to create its own sources of revenue and levy taxes, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law";
WHEREAS, the Constitution under Section 2, Article XI, also enjoins the allocation among the different local government units of their powers and resources;
WHEREAS, the Constitution provides that the State shall guarantee and promote the autonomy of local government units to ensure their fullest development as self-reliant communities and local autonomy can be guaranteed and enhanced only by enabling the local government units to exploit fully their taxing and other revenue-raising powers;
WHEREAS, there is an urgent and compelling need to codify all existing tax laws scattered in a welter of various Acts, Commonwealth Acts and Republic Acts, as well as in a number of Supreme Court decisions, for a more efficient system of local tax administration that will work to the benefit of both the government and the taxpayer;
WHEREAS, a local tax code delineating the taxing powers of the different local government units and limiting the same powers conformably to the provisions of the Constitution will ensure uniformity in local taxation, obviate multiple and competitive local impositions and general adequate resources for the local government units without over-burdening the taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, a local tax code insuring adequate resources will also transform the local government units into effective instruments of national development and progress;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1 dated September 22, 1972, as amended, in compliance with the pertinent mandates of the Constitution and to provide the local government units with adequate sources of revenue that will make them viable, self-sufficient and effective instruments of national development and progress, without over-burdening the taxpayers, hereby adopt, promulgate and decree, as it is hereby adopted, promulgated, and decreed as part of the law of the land and attached Local Tax Code for implementation.
This Decree shall take effect July 1, 1973.
Done in the City of Manila, this 28th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.
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