BIR collected P244B in 1st quarter

BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Bureau of Internal Revenue raised P244.1 billion in the first quarter, representing a jump of 6.6 percent year-on-year but short by 4.8 percent against the target for the period.

From January to March 2012, the BIR collected P229.04 billion. For the past three months, it had aimed at a total P256.3 billion.

BIR documents released Friday showed that in March alone, the agency collected about P74.8 billion or almost P10 billion short of the P84.6-billion target for the month.

This means the BIR missed all monthly records so far this year although it also consistently exceeded actual monthly collections in the previous year. In 2013, the BIR is tasked to raise P1.25 trillion.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Henares earlier said that collections were expected to be stronger in the coming months, especially with the deadline of the filing of tax returns in April. This is mainly the reason why April has the biggest monthly target for the BIR at about P141.4 billion.

Henares said the BIR anticipated seeing the effects on collections of jacked-up excise tax rates on tobacco products and alcoholic beverages in the second half of the year.

Based on BIR data, P233.4 billion of first-quarter collections accounted for cash. This represented an increase of P19.4 billion or 9 percent year-on-year from P214 billion.

The rest of the revenue in the first quarter represented P10.6 billion in noncash inflows such as payments that were made using tax credits.

The BIR said in a statement that collections from regional offices “continu(ed) the trend from last year” of double-digit growth rates.

The BIR’s Large Taxpayer Service (LTS) also showed a 3-percent improvement. For the full year, the LTS is tasked to improve its collections to P768.3 billion, which is 63 percent of the BIR’s cash target of P1.22 trillion.