BIR misses collection targets for March, Q1

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), missed its collection target in March and in the first quarter of the year but growth over last year’s performance remained at double-digit-rate and higher than economic growth.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares reported yesterday that March collections reached P75.2 billion, below the target of P82.26 billion.

This brought first quarter collections to P229.04 billion, also below the target for the period of P232.67 billion.

However, despite the agency missing the targets, Henares said growth in collections over year-ago figures remained faster than the growth of the economy.

 “We’re growing faster than the economy,” Henares said.

She also said that one time gains posted last year could come in later this year.

In March 2011, the BIR had one-time gains of P13.3 billion from taxes collected from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

“Despite a non-recurring collection amounting to P13.3 billion made in March 2011, the BIR collected P75.2 billion for March 2012 or an increase P3.64 billion over last year,” Henares said.

Without the P13.3 billion one-time gains posted last year, growth would be roughly 20 percent, Henares also said.

For the first quarter of 2012, the BIR’s collection of P229.04 billion showed an increase of P29.5 billion or 14.78 percent more than the collections made in the first quarter of 2011.

Henares also said the tax bureau is still on track to meeting its revenue goal of P1.066 trillion this year.

“We’re still on track because the one time transaction can come in later on the year,” Henares said.

The BIR is stepping up efforts to meet the target this year, the first time that the revenue goal has reached the P1-trillion mark.

Initiatives include the name and shame campaign through the regular filing of tax evasion cases before the Justice department, the intensified monitoring of issuance of receipts and the issuance of Letters of Authority to big taxpayers.