MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) missed anew its collection goal for July.
In a statement, the country's main tax agency said it collected P63.81 billion last month, P3.57 billion short of its target of P67.39 billion. However, this was 10.8% higher than the P57.61 billion it collected in July 2009.
July was the first month of the new government's campaign to collect taxes more efficiently and chase down tax evaders to shore up state revenues.
For the first 7 months of 2010, the BIR generated P467.28 billion in taxes, P21.1 billion below its P488.38 billion goal, but 7.9% more than the P433.22 billion it raked in during the same period last year.
BIR Commissioner Kim Henares vowed to make up for the shortfall to meet an upwardly revised P860 billion collection goal this year.
She said they will further strengthen the Run After Tax Evaders or RATE program, an anti-corruption and tax evasion campaign started in 2005. The BIR has so far filed 4 cases against tax cheats since July this year.
The government needs to boost tax collection to help plug the deficit, which is expected to hit P325 billion this year, equivalent to 3.9% of GDP.
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