BIR, Customs post higher intake in January

The government’s two major tax-collecting agencies generated higher revenues in January year-on-year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said, opening the year on a positive note as they bank on further digitalization to improve collection efficiency.

Preliminary figures from the DOF showed the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) earned P350.6 billion in the first month of the year, representing a 13.7-percent growth.

The BIR typically accounts for 80 percent of the national government’s total receipts.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC), whose sources of revenues are duties and taxes on foreign trade and transactions, saw its collections increase by 8.1 percent to P79.3 billion.

The DOF said the initial figures were presented during the two agencies’ command conference last Feb. 19. At the briefing, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto urged the BIR and BOC to complete their respective digitalization strategies “at the soonest time possible.”

Relying on efficiency

This came as the Marcos administration promised to rely on better collection efficiency and not resort to new consumption-based taxes in cutting its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.54 trillion or 5.3 percent of gross domestic product this year.

For 2025, the DOF said the BIR’s digitalization priorities are on the implementation of the Electronic Invoicing/Receipting and Sales Reporting System, or EIS.

The bureau will also work on the full utilization of the Internal Revenue Integrated System; Project 230x – Online Withholding Tax System; Electronic Filing & Payment System; and Taxpayer’s Portal, among others.

Meanwhile, the BOC’s priorities are on the full digitalization of the customs processes, which include integration of the different payment channels to the e-Pay Portal System.

This year, the BIR’s goal is to collect P3.44 trillion while the BOC is targeting P1 trillion.