BIR breaches Covid-adjusted excise goal

The BIR also collected P3.02 billion in excise taxes of large taxpayers on sweetened beverages, 19.1 percent above the P2.53-billion target. Petroleum products also yielded P2.1 billion in excise taxes in June, down by 51 percent compared to the P4.3-billion goal as quarantine measures were relaxed slightly last month, but the means of public transport remained limited. Despite this, the June 2020 collection is 2.6 percent higher than the P2.05 billion collected in June last year. Excise taxes in June from automobiles amounted to P124 million; minerals, P368 million; nonessentials, P2 million; and cosmetic procedures, 0.

DBCC cuts 33% of goal

DUE to the pandemic’s impact, the Cabinetlevel Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) reduced the BIR’S total collection goal this year to P1.744 trillion. This is 32.29 percent lower than the original target of the BIR this year at P2.576 trillion. The BIR is aiming to collect P193.757 billion in excise taxes this year, comprising 11.1 percent of its adjusted total revenue goal this year. The revised excise tax collection target of the BIR this year at P193.757 billion is 58.33 percent down its original excise tax revenue goal of P464.966 billion. The DBCC expects a wider budget deficit this year at 8.4 percent of GDP or equivalent to P1.613 trillion, more than double the country’s budget gap last year of P660.2 billion or 3.4 percent of GDP. Budget deficit occurs when expenditures exceed revenues. As of end-may this year, the country’s budget deficit expanded to P562.2 billion, nearly 695 times as much as the previous year’s budget gap of only P809 million for the period. This was on the back of increased disbursements and drop in revenue collections due to the pandemic.