MANILA: The collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) fell below target in May, reaching only P157.36 billion or 10.12 percent lower than the P175.09 billion target for the month.
It was, however, higher by 3.44 percent than the P152.14 billion collections in the same period in 2016, according to the BIR.
Broken down, P154.19 billion of the total collection in May came from the BIR’s operations – P104.29 billion from the Large Taxpayers Service and P49.9 billion from revenue regions – while the rest came from non-BIR operations, or taxes slapped on government securities sold by the Bureau of the Treasury.
Collections for the first five months amounted to P719.95 billion, 5.18 percent lower than the agency’s P759.29-billion target from January to May.
This was, on the other hand, 9.09 percent up from the P659.96 billion generated during the same period last year.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the government is “not alarmed” by the below target collection of the BIR.
“It’s not exactly where we want it to be. But it’s not alarming. They’re doing basically ok,” he said, referring to the BIR.
The BIR is the biggest tax collecting arm of the government, traditionally contributing about 80 percent of the government’s total revenue.
In 2016, the BIR collected P1.575 trillion, just short of the P1.62 trillion target.
The Bureau of Customs, the second largest revenue-generating agency of the government, said it has collected P39.6 billion in May, 3.4 percent higher than the target.
It was, likewise, 23.5 percent up from the Custom’s collection in May 2016, due to higher oil prices, as well as the increase in import volume and value during the period.
