BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR-CAR) exceeded its tax collection goal last year amidst the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that heavily impacted on the local economy.
BIR-CAR regional director Douglas Rufino stated that the bureau collected more than P5.9 billion in various taxes last year compared to the more than P5.5 billion projected tax collection target, exceeding by around 8 percent the projected 2021 tax collection.
Further, last year’s tax collection is more than 15 percent higher compared to the more than P5.2 billion in taxes collected by the bureau in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the implementation of the Luzonwide lockdown.
Rufino explained that bulk of the taxes collected by the bureau last year is composed of taxes withheld by government agencies and local governments that hired significant numbers of employees and purchased huge volumes of goods used for the needs of the people at the height of the pandemic.
Based on the data obtained from the BIR-CAR’s collection department, more than P3.6 billion was classified as income taxes, P1.6 billion from value added tax, more than P459 million are percentage taxes, more than P376 million fall under other forms of taxes and more than P11 million are excise taxes.
From January to April this year, the BIR-CAR collected more than P2.388 billion in various taxes compared to the target tax collection of at least P2.388 billion or an excess of nearly P700 million in collected taxes.
According to the BIR-CAR official, there has been an increase in the taxes collected by the bureau for each of the 4 quarters last year despite the implementation of stricter community quarantine restrictions to contain the spread of the deadly virus due to the emergence of the various variants in the country.
In 2022, Rufino disclosed that the bureau’s tax collection target was pegged by the central office at more than P7.109 billion which the various revenue district offices and the regional office will try to raise. He stipulated that part of the efforts of the bureau to contribute in achieving the tax collection target is the hiring of some 70 entry-level personnel after the bureau focused on the promotion of the employees who had been occupying the entry level positions to pave the way for the opening of the same to interested applicants.
On July 13-14, 2022, the bureau will be conducting a pre-employment examination for the interested applicants to the vacant positions which had already been published and posted for the information of interested applicants.
Rufino vowed to continue exceeding the bureau’s tax collection target in the region for this year and the years to come for the government’s use in improving the delivery of quality basic services and the implementation of high impact development projects that will contribute in allowing the gradual and safe revival of the local economy that had been heavily impacted by the ongoing health crisis.
