9-month collections up but BIR, BOC unlikely to hit 2024 targets–Recto

The government collected higher taxes and customs duties in the first nine months of the year but the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) are not expected to hit their goals for the whole year.

“Both the BIR and BOC may miss their full-year targets but we will achieve our revenue targets for this year with nontax revenues,” Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told the Inquirer on Friday.

Preliminary data from the Department of Finance (DOF) on Friday showed that collections from BIR, which typically accounts for 80 percent of state revenues, had gone up by 12.13 percent to P2.08 trillion in the first nine months from last year. This reached 68.2 percent of the P3.05-trillion target for this year. 

Earlier, BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. maintained a positive outlook, stating that the agency’s performance is “good.”

“We will also intensify the enforcement, so you will see in the next few weeks, we will be more aggressive in our enforcement,” Lumagui said. 

Lumagui noted that the BIR expected to reap gains from the recently imposed 1-percent withholding tax on online sellers next month.

Meanwhile, the BOC collection for January to September stood at P690.84 billion, 4.61 percent higher from the same period last year. This translated to about 73.5 percent of its P939.69-billion target for the year. 

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Looking back, the finance chief said that there would be no new taxes during the remaining years of the Marcos administration, which would instead focus on improving tax collection efficiency.

The government plans to double nontax revenue collections this year to P400 billion. With this, the DOF increased the dividends that state-owned corporations must remit to government officers to 75 percent of their earnings from 50 percent previously.

The state is also privatizing underperforming and unused government assets to raise additional revenue.