’15 tax take goal attainable, says Henares

INTERNAL Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares said a tax take of P1.5 trillion by the end of the year would be “very doable,” a promise mentioned by President Aquino in his last State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday.

In a text message on Monday night, Henares said the largest tax-collection agency was even hopeful to hit the target of P1.674 trillion earlier set by the Cabinet-level, interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s 2015 goal is equivalent to 12 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

President Aquino, in his sixth and final Sona, noted that the BIR first hit the P1-trillion collection mark in 2012, while this year, the agency “will collect up to P1.5 trillion.” Ben O. de Vera