Gov’t seen exceeding 2014 ‘sin’ tax take goal

The Bureau of Internal Revenue AFP FILE PHOTO

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has expressed confidence that its tax collections from alcohol and tobacco or the so-called “sin” products for the entire 2014 would exceed its goal.

During the recent Congressional Oversight Committee on the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program hearing at the Senate, Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares said the agency believed it would exceed the 2014 sin tax collection target of P42.86 billion.

Henares, however, did not say how much she was expecting actual collections could reach by yearend.

The base excise revenue from alcohol and tobacco, meanwhile, was projected to reach P62.315 billion this year, she said.

BIR data during the hearing showed that from January to September, actual incremental revenue from taxes slapped on tobacco and alcohol combined reached P37.24 billion, higher than the P25.6-billion target set by the agency under Republic Act No. (RA) 10351 or the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2012.

Collections from tobacco products during the first nine months reached P28.79 billion or 86.3 percent more than the P15.45-billion target.

Tax collections from alcohol worth P8.45 billion as of end-September, however, were 16.7-percent below the projected incremental revenue of P10.15 billion for the nine-month period.

As a result of the implementation of RA 10351, total excise tax collections rose to P78.34 billion during the January to September period. Excise tax revenue without the sin taxes would have stood at only P41.09 billion during the nine-month period.