Non-tax revenues climb to record P607 billion in 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The government is on track to collect an unprecedented P606.6 billion in non-tax revenues for 2024, according to the Department of Finance.

In a statement, the DOF said this would exceed the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing target for the year of P407.5 billion and the 2023 level of P394.8 billion.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the government should raise more funds to meet the growing needs of the Filipino people.

“On top of tax collections, the non-tax revenue sources help us marshal additional resources to equip the government in delivering more and better services in critical areas like healthcare, education, food security, social protection and national security,” Recto said.

As of end-November, non-tax revenue collections jumped by 45.8 percent to P555.27 billion from P380.8 billion a year ago.

The DOF said it maximized non-tax revenue collections through higher dividend contributions of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) by raising their remittance share to 75 percent from 50 percent of their earnings.

As of Dec. 9, dividends amounting to P136.29 billion have been remitted by 52 GOCCs to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), exceeding the P100 billion target for the year. It was also 35 percent higher than the same period last year.

Meanwhile, collections from the Privatization Management Office (PMO)’s disposition efforts more than doubled to P4.44 billion. The proceeds came from the sales and receivables from litigated assets, income from leases, dividend income and other sources.

“One of the notable sales includes the Philippine government’s shares of the NLEX Corp., which amounted to approximately P2.9 billion,” the DOF said.

The government also received a P30-billion upfront payment with the successful awarding of the public-private partnership solicited proposal for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“The government is expected to generate roughly P900 billion in revenues from this deal over the entire term, which is a 15-year concession period, extendable by another 10 years,” the DOF said.

Further privatization initiatives are underway with the approval of the guidelines on the privatization and disposition of government assets by the Privatization Council (PrC) in September.

Chaired by the DOF, the PrC oversees the government’s privatization program. The new guidelines aim to institutionalize long-standing policies and decisions, ensuring clarity and transparency in processes, rules and regulations for both public and private stakeholders.