TRAIN revenues exceed targets in first half — DOF

The government’s two main tax agencies exceeded their revenue collection targets in January to June this year under the first tax reform law, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs surpassed by 13.5 billion their expected revenues from the tax reform for acceleration in inclusion act (TRAIN) in the first six months of the year.

Dominguez said preliminary data indicated that TRAIN revenues amounted to 155.6 billion in first half 2019, which was also 65 percent higher compared with the same period last year.

In particular, the BIR’s tax take from TRAIN breached the first semester target by 1 1.8 billion, while the Customs bureau surpassed the goal by 11.7 billion.

“We are confident this growth will be sustained in the coming period through continuing administrative reforms and the completion of the comprehensive tax reform program that will make our tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient,” Dominguez said.

“In both revenue agencies, we are automating processes and strengthening control measures against slippages,” he added.

Following the above-target TRAIN revenues, Dominguez urged Congress to pass the other “game-changing reforms” under the comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP).

He said the approval of the remaining CTRP packages and passage of other economic reforms, such as the amendments to the Public Services Act, Retail Trade Act and Foreign Investments Act, will secure for the Philippines an “A” credit rating in two years’ time.