THE reimposition of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in August in several areas, including Metro Manila, prevented the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) from hitting its collection targets.
Preliminary data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed BIR raked in P1.379 trillion from January to August this year, falling short of its P1.388-trillion goal by 0.65 percent or P8.99 billion.
However, this is still higher by 5.78 percent when compared with the P1.303 trillion it collected in the same eight-month period last year.
For the month of August, BIR’s collection settled at P172.7 billion, lower by 24.5 billion or 12.4 percent than its P197.2-billion target.
Likewise, it is also smaller by 8.09 percent than the P187.9 billion it collected in the same month in 2020. In August last year, Metro Manila and Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal were placed under a more relaxed Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) from August 4 until August 18. These areas were then placed under General Community Quarantine until the end of August last year.
Sought for comment, Finance Assistant Secretary Maria Teresa Habitan said the BIR missed its targets due to the recent reimposition of ECQ.
To recall, Metro Manila was placed under ECQ from August 6 to 20 this year in a bid to address the rising cases of the contagious Covid-19 Delta variant. It was then placed under MECQ from August 21 to 31.
Other places, such as Laguna, Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo City were placed under ECQ from August 6 to 15 and later on placed under MECQ until August 31.
Despite the ongoing implementation of lockdown measures to avert the rising number of new Covid-19 cases, Habitan is confident the BIR will still hit its P2.081-trillion target this year.
“Habang may buhay, may pag-asa [While there’s life, there’s hope],” Habitan told the BusinessMirror in a message.
The government hopes to raise more revenues this year to cover the expected higher budget deficit. The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) now projects this to reach a new record high of 1.86 trillion or 9.3 percent of the country’s GDP.
The DBCC recently slashed its growth projection for the Philippine economy this year to 4 to 5 percent from 6 to 7 percent previously due to the reimposition of lockdowns.
If not for the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, the economic team said their original growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent could have been attainable.