BIR unlikely to meet collection target

MANILA, Philippines —  With a quarter left in the year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) may have to settle with a missed collection target even with an additional tax stream from online sellers.

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, BIR commissioner Romeo Lumagui said collection from January to August is better than last year’s tax take.

Data showed that the BIR raked in P1.92 trillion in the eight-month period, 12.5 percent higher than the P1.72 trillion recorded from January to August 2023.

In terms of its goal, however, BIR is 7.4 percent short of its P2.07-trillion target for the period.

The latest haul of the BIR is just 62.7 percent of the P3.06-trillion goal set by the economic team.

Over the past months, BIR said it has been challenging to hit the target.

Lumagui, however, remains hopeful that it can catch up in the remaining months of the year.

“Hopefully, we can ramp up our enforcement,” Lumagui said.

“The collection from the withholding tax of online sellers will also start coming in November so that can also boost (our revenues),” he said.

But BIR assistant commissioner Jethro Sabariaga, who heads the agency’s Large Taxpayers Service, has admitted that this year’s goal is not achievable.

He added that there’s also no indication of bringing down the target to a more realistic level.

“Why does BOC (Bureau of Customs) have a three-percent growth rate while BIR has 22 percent?” Sabariaga said.