BIR-13 tax collection up 13% in first 3 quarters

THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue Region 13 (BIR-13) collected P20.3 billion from Jan. to Sept. this year, up 13% from its P18-billion collection in the same period last year, but fell short of the P21.8-billion target for the first three quarters of 2017. BIR-13, which has five revenue district offices, covers Cebu and Bohol. BIR13 Regional Director Aynie Mandajoyan-Dizon, in an interview Wednesday, said they remain hopeful of hitting the P29.3-billion target for the full year 2017 by pursuing delinquent accounts. “We have many delinquent accounts to settle (that could help in our collections),” she said. In 2016, BIR-13 collected P26.6 billion, falling short of its P36-billion target. Ms. Dizon said BIR-13 has not recorded any big-time transactions so far this year and has been depending solely on recurring collections such as real estate property taxes, income tax and value-added tax (VAT). Capital gains tax, which is collected from real estate sales, accounted for about 6% of the agency’s collection during the first nine months. Income tax accounted for the biggest share at 65%. Meanwhile, Ms. Dizon said BIR-13 is preparing for the segmentation program for medium-sized taxpayers. At least 500 medium taxpayers have so far been identified, she said, and they are looking at a total of up to 1,500 that will fall under the category, mainly companies engaged in the construction, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail sectors. —