BIR collection of P103.39 B for April below target

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) missed its revenue target for the month of April despite the month being a tax-filing season.

The BIR collected P103.39 billion in April, short by P1.73 billion or 1.6 percent against the goal for the month. However, the tax-take in April expanded by 13.4 percent from the P91.16 billion-collected in the same period last year.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said April collections fell below the target because of the lower-than-expected tax revenues from market transactions of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). The Treasury’s tax collections from its treasury bills and bonds fell below the target for the month by P1.32 billion.

The April collections brought the January to April revenues to P302.94 billion, higher by P781 million or 0.3 percent compared to the target for the period of P302.16 billion.

Compared to actual tax collections by the BIR for the same period in 2010, where tax collections reached P265.05 billion, the January to April revenues surpassed year-ago figures by P37.89 billion or a growth of about 14.3 percent.

Henares said the BIR employees’ commitment to step up efforts would allow the government to meet revenue expectations.

“I think, through hard work, commitment and dedication to perform, my people at the BIR continue to prove that the agency can meet the government’s revenue expectations. However, we know this is not yet enough to meet the health and educational needs of the country. We must continue to increase the BIR’s performance through reforms,” Henares said.

The BIR presented its recently concluded five-year Strategic Plan last May 6. In this plan, the BIR outlines its reform agenda as well as priorities over the short to medium term.

“It is important because this plan was crafted by people from the BIR. It is owned by the BIR and it will be executed by the BIR through the assistance of the donor community where needed” Henares said.

The agency is tasked to collect P940 billion this year, up from last year’s target of P860 billion.