Six-month sin tax haul exceeds target
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the main collection arm of government, not only hit its target six-month excise tax collection but exceeded it as the large taxpayers paid P128.59 billion.
This was learned from Department of Finance (DoF) officials who said the excise tax revenue surpassed its adjusted target of P113.64 billion by 13.15 percent despite the pandemic.
“Preliminary data submitted to the DoF show that tobacco products led the gainers in terms of excise tax collection from large taxpayers, with P61.47 billion collected over the period 1 January to 30 June, surpassing the BIR’s target of P43.6 billion for this period by P17.87 billion or 41 percent,” the DoF said.
Large taxpayers paid P18.1 billion, nearly tripling the P6.56 billion target and 36.1 percent higher than the reported P13.3 billion in the same month a year ago.
“Excise tax collection for alcohol products from large taxpayers amounted to P27.46 billion, which is P6.51 billion or 31.07 percent over the target of P20.95 billion for the January to June period,” it added.
For sweetened beverages, the large taxpayers paid an aggregate P16.41 billion, 2.46 percent short of the P16.83 billion target for the first six months of 2020.
On petroleum products, collection from large taxpayers amounted to only P19.99 billion, 30 percent below the BIR target of P28.59 billion for the period as demand for oil declined since March owing to the restrictions on the movement of people and goods during the period.
For the month of June alone, large taxpayers paid P18.1 billion, nearly tripling the P6.56 billion target and 36.1 percent higher than the reported P13.3 billion in the same month a year ago.
“Collection (from alcoholic beverages) amounted to P7.35 billion, which is P4.2 billion or 133 percent over the target of P3.15 billion for the month and P515 million or 7.5 percent more than the P6.83 billion collected in June 2019,” the agency said.
“The BIR also collected P483 million or 19.1 percent above its target of P2.53 billion for the excise taxes of large taxpayers on sweetened beverages in June, with collection reaching P3.02 million,” it added.
Although the government eased the quarantine measures in most areas of the country, public transport remain limited hence, the BIR only accomplished about half of its collection target for petroleum products worth P2.1 billion versus its P4.3 billion target for the month.
The economic managers earlier expressed the hope that consumption will rise in the ensuing months and lift revenue collection from excise tax and other sources.