The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the government's main tax agency, exceeded its collection target for July this year due to a significant boost in tax enforcement efforts.

In a statement on Tuesday, Aug. 29, BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. said the bureau collected P273.13 billion in July, exceeding the target of P259.91 billion by five percent. 

Lumagui noted that compared to July last year, the BIR's collection for the month increased by 38 percent from P197.4 billion.

For this reason, he expressed confidence in the BIR's ability to achieve or surpass its collection target this year amounting to P2.639 trillion.

Lumagui attributed his optimism to the bureau's intensified tax enforcement activities, specifically targeting the sale and use of counterfeit receipts, as well as their collaborations with different groups to enhance taxpayer services.

In the first seven months of the year, the BIR collected P1.492 trillion, a 12 percent rise compared to the P1.329 trillion in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, the BIR fell short of its target of P1.514 trillion for the end of July.

The BIR is responsible for generating two-thirds of government revenues annually.

Last July 31, Lumagui signed Revenue Memorandum Order 27-2023, stating a 1.5 percent increase in the agency’s tax collection target for 2023 from P2.599 trillion to P2.639 trillion.

The rise was primarily attributed to a substantial surge in projected revenues from non-operational sources, which have increased by 44 percent to P99.7 billion from the previous estimate of P69.28 billion.

On the other hand, revenues from BIR operations have been adjusted to P2.539 trillion, representing a slight increase from the previous target of P2.529 trillion.

Within the BIR operations category, there has been a notable increase in the collection goal for value-added tax, which is now set at P538.13 billion, reflecting a 6.1 percent rise compared to the earlier target of P507.03 billion.

Moreover, taxes on net income and profits under the BIR operations category have been slightly revised upward by P2 billion from P1.314 trillion to P1.316 trillion.

Meanwhile, the BIR anticipated lower collections from excise tax, percentage tax, and other taxes this year, reflecting a more conservative outlook.

The collection goal for excise tax has been revised downward, or 4.7 percent, from P352.87 billion to P336.09 billion. Similarly, the target for percentage taxes was lowered by 0.3 percent, from P125.05 billion to P124.64 billion.

Additionally, the target for other taxes has been adjusted downward by 2.7 percent, going from P230.48 billion to P224.15 billion.