MANILA: Excise tax collections skyrocketed in January following the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law, data released by the Finance department showed.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Caesar recently reported P22.078 billion in collections for January, 81.69 percent higher year-on-year and surpassing the month’s P20.501-billion target, the department said in a statement on Monday.
Tobacco firms accounted for P12.139 billion, a 95.91-percent increase that also topped the P7.944-billion collection goal for the sector.
Excise tax collections from automobile sales, meanwhile, ballooned to P443.34 millon, 113.13 percent higher than last year and 29.42 percent in excess of the P342.561-million target for the month. The take from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) amounted to P2.5 billion in the same period, the Finance department said without providing a comparative figure.
Earlier, this month, BIR officials said that local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. had paid P4 billion more in monthly taxes since global firm Japan Tobacco Inc. (JTI) took it over in 2017.
Data showed that compared to the same period in the previous year, cigarettes bearing the brands sold by Mighty yielded roughly P4 billion more in monthly excise taxes over the September-December 2017 period, or when JTI fully took over the operations of the company.
