BIR, BOC exceed January to August collection target

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) generated P1.64 trillion in revenues from January to August, surpassing their combined target for the period, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Citing preliminary data from the BIR and the BOC, the DOF’s Revenue Operations Group said the combined revenues raised by both agencies from January to August   exceeded the   P1.53 trillion target by 7.17 percent.

This was based on the adjusted target set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) last July to account for the   pandemic’s impact on the economy.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the above-target collections of the BIR and BOC demonstrate the economy is already starting to recover from the damage caused by the pandemic.

For the whole of 2020, the BIR’s target was revised downward to P1.69 trillion, while the BOC’s goal was decreased to P506.15 billion, for a total of P2.19 trillion.

According to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr),  the combined collections of the two agencies from January to August  were lower   compared to the P1.86 trillion recorded in the same period in 2019.

Broken down, P1.29 trillion of the total collections in the first eight months came from the BIR. The figure is 8.08 percent higher than the bureau’s revised goal of P1.19 trillion, but lower than the P1.45 trillion collection in the same period last year.

The BOC, meanwhile, collected P347.6 billion during the same period, 5.13 percent higher than the  goal of P330.63 billion, but 15.48 percent lower than last year’s level of P411.25 billion.

For   August alone, the BIR and BOC collected P216.65 billion in revenues, exceeding their combined target of P155.27 billion by 39.53 percent.

This is, however, 16.4 percent lower than the P259.18 billion generated by the two bureaus in the same month last year.

The DOF said the agencies achieved above-target revenues in August despite the slowdown in economic activities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The BIR collected P172.06 billion in August, surpassing the DBCC target of P118.2 billion by 45.5 percent or P53.87 billion.

The   economy contracted by 16.5 percent in the second quarter, plunging the country into a recession. In the first half of the year, economic contraction averaged at nine percent.

For 2020, the DBCC sees the GDP contracting by 5.5 percent, worse than the previous estimate of two to 3.4 percent.