BIR H1 tax take up 13%, exceeds target

The higher and new taxes slapped on “sin” products and sugary drinks under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act helped the Bureau of Internal Revenue surpass its collection target for the first half of the year, Commissioner Caesar B. Dulay said yesterday.

In a phone interview, Dulay said the BIR had collected P967.4 billion from January to June, up 13 percent from P853.6 billion in the first six months of last year.

The agency also surpassed its end-June collection goal of P938.7 billion by 3 percent, Dulay added.

In June alone, the BIR’s tax take rose 4 percent to P136.9 billion from P132.2 billion a year ago.

Actual collections last month were about 1 percent more than the P135.7-billion target, he said.

The BIR chief attributed the strong six-month performance to the combination of improved tax administration and performance of revenue personnel and the higher tax rates under the TRAIN Law.

For this year, the BIR was tasked to collect P2.074 trillion, equivalent to 11 percent of gross domestic product.

Last year, the BIR’s collections grew 13 percent to P1.772 trillion from P1.567 trillion in 2016, although 1-percent below the P1.783-trillion goal.

The TRAIN Law or Republic Act No. 1 0963 jacked up or imposed new excise taxes on, among others, cigarettes, sugary drinks, oil products and vehicles to compensate for the restructured personal income tax regime that raised the tax-exempt cap to an annual salary of P250,000.