Philippines tops full-year revenue goal

THE PHILIPPINE government has surpassed the collection target for its main revenue collection agencies this year, the Presidential Palace said on Sunday.

Emerging collections from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BoC) had reached P3.2 trillion, 2.2% over the full-year goal, Acting Press Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said in a statement, citing the Finance department’s year-end report.

Latest data from the BIR showed collections as of end-October had reached PHP 1.919 trillion, up by 12.6% from a year earlier. The agency must collect about 70% of government revenues.

As of end-November, the Customs bureau had exceeded its full-year collection goal by 9.5% to PHP 790.3 billion, based on preliminary data.

For 2023, the BIR and BoC must collect a combined PHP 3.436 trillion in taxes and duties. This will make up 99.19% of the projected PHP 3.464-trillion total tax revenues next year, according to the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing report.

The Internal Revenue bureau is expected to collect PHP 2.67 trillion in revenues next year, 11.6% higher than its PHP 2.39-trillion collection goal this year. Collections will include taxes on net income and profits (PHP 1.295 trillion), taxes on domestic goods and services (PHP 1.073 trillion) and taxes on property (PHP 15.218 billion).

The Customs bureau is expected to generate PHP 765.59 billion in revenue next year, up by 6.11% from its PHP 721.52-billion target this year. This includes PHP 485.67 billion in value-added taxes (VAT) on imports, PHP 196.6 billion in excise taxes, PHP 63.67 billion in import duties and taxes and PHP 19.64 billion in other fees.

The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act and Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer law are also expected to bring in P67.07 billion for the BIR and Customs bureau next year.

“Tax administration reforms will be implemented to enhance tax efforts, maximize the government’s revenue potential, simplify taxpayer compliance and automate the BIR and BoC processes,” according to the Palace statement.

Meanwhile, grants and technical assistance this year reached about USD 85.5 million.

“For next year, the Department of Finance’s major activities include rightsizing (its) bureaucracy, as it works toward streamlining its organization and processes to maximize efficiency and use of public funds,” Ms. Garafil said.

The government is expected next year to get about USD 19.1 billion worth of official development assistance, USD 9.2 billion worth of loans from multilateral development partners and USD 9.8 billion in loans from bilateral lenders.

“Other DoF accomplishments for this year include the resolution on tax incentives for business activities outside zone limits, commitment to Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives and the revision of the implementing rules and regulations for the Build-Operate-Transfer Law,” the Palace said.

The Finance department has also been pushing key tax measures, such as the excise tax on single-use plastics and the value-added tax on digital service providers, among other measures.

The agency will also target private sector fund mobilization through public-private partnership projects and will launch pioneering projects with Project Management Office-led assets. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson