BIR, BOC collection targets slashed amid slow growth

In light of the country's expected slower growth this year, the economic managers have adjusted downward the projected tax collections for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman confirmed to Manila Bulletin on Saturday, June 1, that the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has revised down this year's targets for the government's two main tax agencies.

According to the DBCC's 2024 Quarterly Fiscal Program approved last May 23, the BIR and BOC are now expected to collect P3.788 trillion this year, a 5.6 percent decrease from the original target of P4.014 trillion.

The DBCC adjusted the BIR's full-year collection target down by 6.7 percent to P2.848 trillion from the earlier goal of P3.055 trillion.

In the first four months of the year, the BIR collected P970.3 billion, equivalent to 69.1 percent of the agency's first-semester target of P1.403 trillion.

The Customs bureau's target for the year was also lowered by two percent to P939.7 billion from the previous estimate of P959 billion.

As of the end of April, the BOC collections totaled P490.55 billion, surpassing the first-half 2024 target of P442.6 billion.

Pangandaman, who chairs the DBCC, said the reduction in the tax collection target stemmed from a lower-than-expected economic growth outlook, among other contributing factors.

Back in April, the DBCC, an inter-agency body tasked with formulating the government's macroeconomic assumptions, revised the gross domestic product target for 2024 to a range of 6.0 percent to 7.0 percent from the previous 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.

The DBCC said the adjusted targets were based on an analysis of the country's economic performance in 2023 along with the latest developments and forecasts regarding external factors such as global demand, trade trends, fluctuations in oil prices, and expected movements in exchange rates and inflation.