BIR slightly misses collection target for first semester

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) missed its collection target for the first six months of the year by a slight 0.5 percent, owing to a combination of factors including lower volume of taxable transactions by the government.

The BIR, which accounts for 70 percent of total government revenues, collected P458 billion in taxes from January to June, lower by P2.3 billion than its target for the period of P460.3 billion.

However, compared to the previous year’s collections of P403.5 billion, the government’s tax-take from January to June is higher by P54.5 billion or 13.5 percent.

In June alone, the BIR collected P67 billion which is higher by 12.7 percent or P7.5 billion than tax revenues in the same period last year. Compared to the target for the month, the BIR’s June collections also fell short by 2.2 percent or P1.5 billion.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said the agency missed its revenue target for the six-month period mainly because of the lower-than-expected collections from taxable transactions by the government.

Taxable transactions by the government include the issuance of treasury bills and bonds.

BIR data showed that from January to June, the overall shortfall of the agency from taxable transactions of the government has reached almost P6.3 billion.

BIR collections come from two groups. The first are collections that are levied from taxable transactions that occur as a result of business activity such as from the sale of goods or the generation of income.

The second are from taxable transactions that occur as a result of public sector or government activity, such as from the trade of treasury bills and bonds and from taxes remitted by government entities.

Despite the lower-than-target collections during the six-month period and for the month of June, Henares said that the agency would strive to hit the 2011 goal of P940 billion.