THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Tuesday said it exceeded its revised P2.85-trillion collection goal in 2024, mainly driven by value-added tax (VAT) collection.
“Although the numbers are still being finalized, the BIR confirmed that they have definitely reached the P2.848-trillion mark for 2024,” BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. said in a press release.
The BIR’s collection target for 2024 was 22% higher than the P2.34-trillion collection in 2023, when revenue rose by 8% annually but missed its P2.64-trillion target.
“The exact figures will be finalized by around mid-February, and by then, the collection figures will only increase past the DBCC (Development Budget Coordination Committee) target,” he added.
The BIR said 2024 would mark the first time the agency surpassed its collection target in two decades, excluding 2020 when the target was significantly lowered due to the pandemic.
Last year’s target was lowered from the original P3.05-trillion goal.
The BIR said revenues were mainly driven by VAT collections, as it failed to hit the goal for other tax types.
“Moreover, this was accomplished despite the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growing by a weaker-than-expected 5.2% in the third quarter,” the BIR said.
In the first 11 months of 2024, BIR revenue collections increased by 13.88% to P2.67 trillion, which already accounted for 93.64% of the full-year program.
Last year, the BIR implemented a 1% withholding tax on online sellers to address tax leakages in the digital economy. It also created a task force to go after taxpayers using “fake transactions” and “ghost receipts” to avoid the payment of income tax and VAT liabilities.
“Our dedication to good governance reforms, manifested by our shift to a taxpayer-oriented agency, has increased the voluntary compliance of taxpayers. This goes to show that if government agencies improve their services, processes and programs, our countrymen will do the right thing and pay their proper share of taxes,” Mr. Lumagui said.
Last week, the BIR told a Senate hearing its tobacco excise tax collections reached P134 billion in 2024, falling short of its P185.3-billion target by 28%.
The BIR attributed the lower excise tax collection to the illicit tobacco trade and consumer preference for vape products. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante