BIR, Customs collections rose in April

Ralph Recto —PPA POOL

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs reported higher collections in April, helping them hit their “challenging” revenue targets that economic officials decided to keep despite their less upbeat growth outlook.

Preliminary data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed BIR, which typically accounts for 80 percent of state revenues, collected P912.9 billion in April, a 16.3 percent increase from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Customs collections grew by 6.3 percent to P295.2 billion.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) was “keeping” the P3.05 trillion revenue target for BIR and close to P1-trillion goal for Customs. These targets will be reviewed by the end of June.

READ: DOF: Gov’t to set ‘more realistic’ growth targets

Already, economic officials came up with a higher financing plan for 2024 of P2.57 trillion, from P2.46 trillion previously, as they also project a wider fiscal deficit of P1.5 trillion (5.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)), from the old forecast of P1.4 trillion (5.1 percent of GDP).

Lowered targets

The DBCC tempered its economic growth target for 2024 to 6 to 7 percent—from 6.5 to 7.5 percent previously—to make the goal more realistic and take into account persistent headwinds brought about by high inflation and elevated borrowing costs.

When the economy slows, state revenues would take a hit due to a smaller tax base. Based on the latest DBCC projections, revenues are now expected to hit P4.3 trillion this year, from the previous forecast of P4.2 trillion.

For her part, Finance Undersecretary Domini Velasquez said the DOF recognized that the targets for BIR and Customs are “challenging” to hit, adding that the government is also boosting nontax revenues to help narrow the fiscal deficit.

“The BIR and Customs’ marching order is to make sure that we achieve it,” Velasquez said in a business journalism seminar hosted by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines and San Miguel Corp. over the weekend.

“In case not, we have other fiscal measures in place to support—to make sure that our deficit-to-GDP [ratio] will go down,” she added. INQ