Gov't revenues hit P1.53T in 2012

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government managed to sustain its double-digit revenue growth by collecting P1.53 trillion in 2012, 12.9 percent higher than the P1.35 trillion posted the previous year.

In a statement published on Tuesday by the Department of Finance, the state agency said the full-year deficit in 2012 amounted to P242.8 billion or 2.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product, lower than the government's target of 2.6 percent of GDP or P279.1 billion.

Excluding interest payments, DOF said the government operated with a P69.9-billion surplus in 2012.

Government spending increased by 14.4 percent in December and by 14.1 percent in 2012, with total expenditures hitting P1.77 trillion, the state agency said.

Meanwhile, collections from the Bureau of Internal Revenue grew by 18.7 percent in December, bringing full-year growth to 14.5 percent with 2012 collections hitting P1.05 trillion or 99.23 percent of the target.

The Bureau of Customs similarly posted a double-digit growth of 15.3 percent in December, driving the full-year growth to 9.3 percent.

"The government’s revenue effort increased to 14.5 percent, higher than the 14% recorded in 2011 while tax effort also went up to 12.88 percent against the previous year’s 12.3 percent due to increased compliance and stringent tax administration efforts despite no new tax measures," DOF said.

For his part, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the country's fiscal performance in 2012 shows the improvement in the government's drive to reform public finances, adding that the strong fiscal position created space for the additional P20-billion capitalization for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“To further expand revenue collection in 2013, we are working closely with the Bureau of Internal Revenue to improve collection performance especially from estate or inheritance tax and income taxes from the self-employed and professionals sector, and with the Bureau of Customs to improve compliance in the declaration of import values. We are also undertaking several efforts to improve information sharing between BIR and BOC as well as among other national government agencies to further strengthen our ability to evaluate the correctness of the tax payments of different entities,” he said.

Purisima added that with the passage of the Sin Tax Bill, the government will work on reforming the fiscal incentives regime and the fiscal regime on mining this year.