The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is optimistic it will hit its record P3-trillion collection target this year after a historic performance last year.
BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. told the Manila Bulletin on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that the bureau, the government’s main tax agency, will do its best to achieve another record P3.2 trillion revenue haul in 2025.
This year’s target is 12 percent higher than the preliminary collection of P2.848 trillion for 2024.
“Yes, we will do our best to achieve the same result for this year,” Lumagui stated in a text message, when asked if the agency could match the 2024 collection performance.
He clarified that the objective for 2025 is to "attain the collection target by continuing what has been started and further improving."
Lumagui announced on Tuesday that the BIR exceeded the P2.848 trillion collection target for 2024 set by the economic team despite the economic slowdown in the third quarter of 2024.
While the exact figures are still being finalized and expected to be completed by mid-February, Lumagui said the collection figures will surpass the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) target.
The DBCC is an inter-agency body responsible for setting the government’s macroeconomic assumptions.
“This is the first time in 20 years that the BIR achieved its goal,” the BIR said, excluding 2020 when “the target was substantially lowered due to the global pandemic.”
The BIR stressed that it surpassed the collection target even with weaker-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.2 percent in the third quarter of 2024.
Third-quarter GDP growth dropped sharply from 6.4 percent in the second quarter and 6 percent a year earlier.
Lumagui said the BIR's commitment to good governance reforms, including transforming into a more taxpayer-oriented agency, has increased voluntary compliance among taxpayers.
“This goes to show that if government agencies improve their services, processes, and programs, our countrymen will do the right thing and pay their proper share of taxes,” Lumagui said.
Under Lumagui’s leadership, the BIR reached key milestones, including 100-percent nationwide ISO certification for frontline processes, Civil Service Commission’s Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (CSC PRIME-HRM) Maturity Level II Accreditation, and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) Seal of Registration last year.
“It was also under his term that the BIR finally made substantial progress in solving the decades-long illegal practice of using “ghost receipts”, or fictitious receipts and invoices to avoid income tax and value-added tax (VAT) liabilities,” the BIR added.
Lumagui created the Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) task force and introduced a withholding tax system for online stores, ensuring fairness with retail businesses.
He is counting on the continued support of public and private sector stakeholders for the BIR’s reforms to exceed future targets.