The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported revenues amounting to P422.587 billion in the first three months this year on the back of increased collection from the regional offices and the Large Taxpayers Service.
The BIR said this exceeded its revenue target for the period of only P361.767 billion by 16.81 percent, with revenue collections for the quarter amounting to P422.587 billion.
“Minus the goal from non-BIR operations, the surplus is pegged at a higher rate of 18.53 percent,” the BIR said in a statement.
The revenues for the quarter also represented growth of 14.03 percent compared to the P370.608 billion in the same period in 2017.
BIR regional offices collected P141.657 billion for the three-month period, an expansion by 12.50 percent than its goal of P125.914 billion.
The LTS collected P270.356 billion, which was 21.96 percent more than its goal of P221.680 billion for the period.
In March alone the BIR collected P130.334 billion compared to its goal of P119.630 billion. In March last year it collected only P117.353 billion which translates to growth of 11.06 percent or an increase by P12.981 billion.
Broken down, the bureau’s regional offices collected P41.911 billion, which expanded by only 0.2 percent from its goal of P41.826 billion.
The LTS collected P85.403 billion which was 16.62 percent more than the goal of P73.230 billion.
Earlier in the month, officials reported that both the Bureau of Customs and the BIR posted higher collections in the first quarter this year.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III attributed the increase to the rollout of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program and the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion signed into law just last year.
BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay is making an appeal to all taxpayers to file and pay their income tax early, as well as asking taxpayers to comply with tax laws and support the programs of President Duterte.