THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Tuesday told lawmakers that it recorded a shortfall of P82 billion for 2018, with total collection amounting to P1.961 trillion.
In a briefing on the agency’s collection performance for 2018, BIR Assistant Commissioner Alfredo Misajon said the bureau has collected P1.961 trillion—4.01 percent lower than its programmed goal of P2.043 trillion.
Misajon, however, told the House Committee on Ways and Means the 2018 collection was still 10.1 percent higher than its 2017 revenue.
According to Misajon, the biggest shortfalls came from the income tax, value-added tax (VAT) and excise tax components.
The TRAIN law exempts from paying income tax those earning annually P250,000 and below.
VAT collection of P358.27 billion is lower by 17.8 percent than the full-year target of P435.88 billion.
“Also, there are several economic factors affecting the bureau’s collection performance, one of which is the high inflation…. Some of them may go out of the business, or some might have shifted to other kinds of nontax consumption,” Misajon said in an interview with reporters.
Misajon traced the lower total excise tax collections to the non-implementation of fuel marking, the sweetened beverage industry’s shift to cheaper ordinary sugar from the more costly high-fructose corn syrup, and the decline in volume of removals in the automobile industry.
According to Misajon, loss of market share by two refineries and the increase in the importations of diesel and LPG have also affected the tax collection for petroleum.
“Petroleum products did not generate excise tax, while the fuel marking project was not implemented,” he added.
Misajon said the appeal for tax exemption of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. and the suspension of operation of some mining companies have also impacted its collection performance.
Moreover, the implementing rules and regulations for taxes for cosmetic procedures have still not been issued.
“But overall, the collection of the BIR, despite the perfect
storm that hit us, the high inflation and the deteriorating peso-dollar rate,”
was satisfactory, he said, adding, “we survived, in fact we registered a
double-digit increase in our
collection, so that’s the good sign, and hopefully this year, we expect that
the business environment will continue to prosper.”
Misajon said the BIR collection target for 2019 is P2.339 trillion.
For his part, BIR Commissioner Cesar R. Dulay said the bureau will “have to do everything to reach the target.”
“We have programs already. We have a program of intensified audit, and we have to continue with our Run After Tax Evaders program,” added Dulay.