The top collecting agencies of the government reported increases in May, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
Data from the DOF show the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collecting P157.364 billion during the month, an expansion by 3.44 percent, compared to last year’s P152.135 billion.
Still, the revenues the BIR collected for the month fell short by 10.12 percent of the collection target amounting to P175.087 billion.
Broken down, collections from the Large Taxpayers Service (LTS) for the month amounted to P104.293 billion, while the various revenue regions contributed another P49.896 billion. So-called non-BIR operations contributed P3.174 billion during the month.
From January to May this year, the BIR reported collecting a total P719.952 billion, which was 9.09 percent more compared to the year ago figure of only P659.963 billion.
The aggregate target collection of the bureau for the period also fell short by 5.18 percent.
The target for the period totaled P759.287 billion.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) also reported growth in its revenue collection for the month amounting to P39.6 billion. This represented growth 3.4 percent more than the target of P38.28 billion.
“The bureau collected P39.6 billion, or P1.3 billion higher than its collection goal for the month,” according to a BOC Financial Service official.
According to the BOC, the May collections this year was also 23.5 percent higher than the P32.08 billion collected in the same month last year.
From January to May, the BOC collected P176 billion, 1.5 percent short of the target of P179.08 billion. Nevertheless, this was 13.6 percent higher than the P155.26 billion recorded in the same period last year.
“The BOC said the improved collection performance was largely due to higher oil prices this year and the increase in volume and value of imports by 19.7 percent and 28.3 percent respectively. Likewise, foreign exchange rate has increased from P47.05 in 2016 to P49.9 in 2017, thereby resulting in higher revenue yields,” the BOC said in a statement.
The BOC attributed last month’s good revenue performance to improved collections by the bureau’s 11 district ports:
- The Port of San Fernando collected P248 million, up by 26.8 percent from the P195.8-million target revenue;
- The Port of Manila collected P6.135 billion, up by 0.6 percent from the P6.101- billion target revenue;
- The Manila International Container Port collected P12.08 billion, up by 2.4 percent from the P11.80-billion
target revenue; - The Ninoy Aquino International Airport collected P3.35 billion, up by 3.2 percent from the P3.24-billion target revenue;
- The Port of Batangas collected P9.05 billion, up by 5.5 percent from the P8.58-billion target;
- The Port of Tacloban collected P22.8 million, up by 22.5 percent from the P18.6-million target;
- The Port of Cagayan de Oro collected P1.46 billion, up by 52.9 percent from the P953.2-million target;
- The Port of Zamboanga collected P22.3 million, up by 14.7 percent from the P19.4-million target;
- The Port of Davao collected P1.572 billion, up by 37.4 percent from the
P1.143- billion target; - The Port of Subic collected P1.370 billion, up by 2.7 percent from the P1.334-billion target; and
- The Port of Clark collected P128.8 million, up by 16.5 percent from the P110.6-million target.
“The ports of Cebu and Limay, which posted P1.83 billion and P2.28 billion, respectively, are about to meet their collection targets,” the BOC said.
Image credits: Alysa Salen