BIR tax take up 6.5% in Oct

The Bureau of Internal Revenue. AFP FILE PHOTO

Tax collections in October rose by 6.5 percent year-on-year, but it still fell short of the target for the month.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Monday said in a statement that its collections last month reached P101.8 billion—higher than the P95.6 billion registered in the same month last year.

But October’s tax take fell short of the P114.1-billion goal earlier set for the beginning of the fourth quarter. In the first 10 months of 2014, the monthly targets were exceeded only in July and September.

From January to October, BIR collections totaled P1.098 trillion. But total collections were 7.7-percent lower than the P1.190-trillion goal set for the 10-month period.

Tax payments collected under the Large Taxpayers Service comprised the bulk of last month’s haul, with big firms contributing P60.03 billion, or 59 percent, of the total. Collections from large taxpayers last month, however, slightly went down by 0.79 percent year-on-year.

Taxes collected by regional offices last October jumped by over a fifth year-on-year to P39.61 billion.

Collections from BIR operations in October reached P99.64 billion—up 6.88 percent year-on-year.

Last month’s collections from non-BIR operations worth P2.16 billion were 8.6-percent lower than that of last year.

The agency aims to collect a total of P1.456 trillion in taxes this year.

The BIR and Bureau of Customs are the largest collection agencies of the government. The bureaus are under the Department of Finance.

The Aquino administration targets to jack up tax collection to P1.88 trillion by yearend, from P1.536 trillion in 2013, in order to raise the tax revenue to gross domestic product ratio to 14.7 percent in 2014, from last year’s 13.3 percent.

Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares Monday said in a text message that, although collections in the first 10 months fell short of the target, the BIR is “still working to try to meet the [2014] goal.”

For the remaining months of 2014, the BIR targets to collect P152 billion in November and P114.1 billion in December.

For the entire year, income taxes are expected to make up the bulk of collections.

Of the P1.456-trillion full-year goal, P855.8 billion is targeted to be collected from taxes on net income and profits.

By end-2014, the BIR also aims to collect P325.7 billion in value-added tax, P124.2 billion in excise taxes, P72.4 billion in percentage taxes, and P78.2 billion from other taxes.

Under Henares’ stewardship, the BIR has also been active in going after tax evaders, with 314 cases filed with the Department of Justice under the agency’s Run After Tax Evaders or Rate program as of Nov. 6.