THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC)—the main collection agencies of the government—missed their respective collection targets for the first quarter, posting a combined revenue shortfall of P156.26 billion mainly due to the Luzon-wide lockdown.
The Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement on Sunday that BIR and BOC’s actual collections for the first quarter settled at P600.86 billion, falling short of the P757.12-billion revenue target for the period.
Revenues collected from January to March this year were also P10.17 billion less than the revenues collected in the same period last year.
Citing preliminary data submitted to it, the DOF said collections for March took the biggest hit as most economic activities were halted due to the Luzon-wide lockdown which started in March 16 and has since been extended to April 30.
In March, the two bureaus collected a combined total of P163.15 billion, which is P85.36 billion short of the P248.5-billion target for the month. Collections for March this year were also P34.5 billion lower than the P197.64-billion take for the same month last year.
‘Financially able’
Even with the significant decline in both bureaus’ revenue collections, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III assured the public that the country is “financially able” to meet the unexpected challenges of the pandemic as he reiterated the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals.
“Our tax collections are definitely going to be a bit lower than our original target, but as I said, these are things that we can finance,” Dominguez said in a statement.
The original revenue collection goal set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee for the two main collection agencies was a combined P3.307 trillion for 2020. The BIR was tasked to collect P2.576 trillion of that target, while the BOC was to collect P731 billion.
From January to March this year, the BIR’s tax take amounted to P455.45 billion, which is 22.86 percent less or P134.98 billion short of its P590.43-billion target for the period. BIR’s first-quarter collection is also 2.86 percent or P13.41 billion below the actual amount of P468.86 billion collected for that period last year.
The BIR’s Large Taxpayers Service (LTS) collected P284.39 billion from January to March this year, significantly missing its P386.19-billion target for the period by 26.36 percent or P101.81 billion. Its first-quarter collection is also 6.14 percent or P18.59 billion lower than last year’s P302.98 billion.
For March alone, BIR posted a revenue shortfall of 38 percent or P72.14 billion as its collection amounted to only P118.35 billion compared to its target of P190.48 billion. The collections for the month are also 20.06 percent or P29.71 billion lower from last year’s P148.05 billion.
For the same month, LTS only collected P80.19 billion, missing its P124.47-billion target by 35.58 percent or P44.28 billion. The actual LTS collection for the month is also 17.42 percent or P16.91 billion below the P97.1 billion collected in the same month in 2019.
On the other hand, BOC’s collections for the first quarter settled at P145.41 billion, failing to hit its P166.69-billion target by 12.76 percent or P21.28 billion.
Despite this, the BOC still managed to improve its collections for the first quarter this year by 2.28 percent or P3.24 billion over last year’s P142.17 billion.
BOC’s collections for March amounted to only P44.8 billion, which is 22.78 percent or P13.22 billion short of its P58.02-billion target for the month.
Collections by the BOC for March this year were also P4.79 billion lower than the P49.59 billion posted in the same month last year.
If the economy posts zero growth this year due to the pandemic, Dominguez earlier said revenues are going to drop by around P286.4 billion.
Should the economy contract by 1 percent, the government expects revenues to decline by about P318 billion.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes