BIR collects more but still below target

MANILA, Philippines—Tax collection maintained a double-digit growth in November, continuing to outpace the expansion of the economy  in what revenue officials credited to the aggressive campaign of the Bureau of Internal Revenue against tax evasion.

Tax collection during the month, however, still fell short of the “very high” target set by the BIR’s parent agency, the Department of Finance.

In a statement on Friday, the Department of Finance said the BIR, which is tasked to generate the bulk of the national government’s revenues, collected P126.46 billion in taxes in November.

This was up by about 14 percent from P110.77 billion collected during the same month last year, but was about 3 percent short of the P130.57-billion target assigned by the finance department.

The tax bureau’s performance during the month brought the cumulative collection from January to Novemer to P1.12 trillion.

This was up by about 16 percent from the P969.49 billion collected during the same 11-month period last year, but was nearly 2 percent short of the goal of P1.16 trillion set for the period.