Second-installment tax payments seen to boost BIR’S collection in July

THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) is pinning its hopes of meeting its collection target for July on second-installment payments of income taxes.

The BIR reminds taxpayers that today is the deadline for the second installment for those who opted to pay their income taxes for 2011 in two parts.

Based on the Internal Revenue Code, a taxpayer may choose to pay tax due on his or her income in two installments, with the first to be settled by April 15 and the second by July 15 of the same year.

But since July 15 this year falls on a Sunday, the deadline is automatically moved to the next working day, which is today.

In a statement, the BIR said that just like the April 16 income tax filing and payment deadline this year, there will be no extension for the second installment.

Late payment of the unpaid portion of the tax will be subject to penalties as provided for in the Tax Code.

Further, the BIR said it was hoping to raise more revenue this July with the second-installment payments to meet its collection goal for the month of P87.35 billion and duplicate its June 2012 collection performance.

Earlier this month, the agency reported that it collected P81.34 billion in June, ex- ceeding the target after failing to do so for three months in a row.

June collection was 7.8 percent, or P5.94 billion higher than the P75.4-billion goal for that month.

Also, last month’s yield was 21.6 percent, or P14.4 billion higher than the P66.9 billion collected in June 2011.

Tax inflows in June brought total revenue for the first semester to P521.15 billion, missing the target of P535.36 billion by 2.6 percent or P14.2 billion.

Even then, the six-month collection was 13.8 percent, or P63.16 billion higher than the P458 billion posted in the same period in 2011.

Last month, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said the continued yearon-year rise in revenue collections allowed the government to pursue its spending program for the year while making sure that the fiscal position remains under control.