BIR topped revenue target anew in May

MANILA, Philippines – Tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) remained above target for a fifth consecutive month in May, buoyed by the extended annual income tax return filing season.

Data released by the BIR on Monday showed revenues climbed 14.15 percent to P279.1 billion in May from P244.5 billion in the same month last year. The amount also slightly exceeded the agency’s target by P78.22 million, or about 0.03 percent.

READ: BIR collects P422B in April, exceeds target despite AITR deadline extension

The May performance came after the deadline for filing annual income tax returns was moved to May 15 from the original April 15 schedule amid the energy crisis that has since weighed on household consumption.

“The extension granted by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. helped taxpayers manage their finances and comply with their tax obligations in a more orderly manner during this energy crisis,” BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza said in a statement.

“It gave taxpayers additional time to file and pay correctly while easing compliance pressures during a difficult period,” he added.

The tax agency also rolled out several reforms in May aimed at improving taxpayer services and encouraging voluntary compliance.

Among these was the pilot launch of the Taxpayer Portal for the Large Taxpayers Service and the rollout of the registration seal badge and a QR-enabled certificate of registration for online businesses.

In addition, the agency implemented the Ease of Closing Business reform, which simplifies the closure and cancellation of BIR registrations by reducing documentary and procedural requirements for taxpayers seeking to wind down operations.

The BIR likewise issued guidelines for the quarterly filing and payment of royalty taxes by large-scale metallic mining companies under the government’s new mining fiscal regime.

For the first five months of the year, BIR collections totaled P1.434 trillion, up 5.49 percent from a year earlier and P9.7 billion above the agency’s target for the period.

The January-to-May haul accounted for about 41.8 percent of the agency’s P3.431-trillion revenue goal for 2026.

As of writing, however, there has been no official announcement yet on whether the BIR’s revenue target for 2026 will be revised following the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) meeting on May 25.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon, through Malacañang, said the DBCC met to recalibrate fiscal targets after the weak economic growth in the first quarter and the latest geopolitical developments. INQ