BIR misses 10-month collection target

BIR collections for October brought the 10-month tax-take of the BIR to P858.6 billion, short of the P886.5-billion target by 3.15 percent.

Collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue for October amounted to P86.1 billion, up 22 percent from P70.5 billion in the same month last year but still short of the P86.18-billion target for the month.

Revenue officials said the increase last month could be due to tighter tax audits and efforts to strictly go after tax evaders.

The collections for October brought the 10-month tax-take of the BIR to P858.6 billion, an increase of 13.4 percent from P756.8 billion in the same period last year but still short of the P886.5-billion target by 3.15 percent.

Last week, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares told reporters that the tax bureau was confident of surpassing the P1-trillion mark as far as tax collection was concerned.

The BIR, the biggest revenue earner among government agencies, is tasked to collect P1.066 trillion in taxes this year. The target represents a 15-percent increase from its actual collection of P924.1 billion in 2011.

The BIR said a record-high tax collection exceeding P1 trillion was possible given several measures being undertaken to plug leakages and discourage firms and individuals from evading the payment of proper taxes.

The BIR said it was keen on keeping up with its goal of filing at least two tax evasion cases every month under its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program.

The government is also aiming to boost its overall revenue through the sale of state-owned assets that are deemed better managed by the private sector.