Purisima: Numbers On Track to Meet Goals On Back of High Growth

For the first quarter of 2013, the Philippines recorded a revenue effort of 13.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) and a tax effort of 11.9% of GDP. Revenue effort is calculated as total national government revenues as a percentage of GDP, while tax effort reflects total national government tax revenues as a percentage of GDP.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) posted collections amounting to 9.2% of GDP, while the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) collections were marked at 2.6% of GDP. The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) recorded collections of 0.9% of GDP, while other offices collected 0.1% of GDP.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima noted that the government was still on pace to meet its targets for collections.

“We are still on track to meet our goals for the tax effort and revenue effort, especially given our high first-quarter growth. We note that in the past, tax effort has gotten a significant boost from the first quarter of the year to the second, and we anticipate the same given our very successful tax collections in April this year.”

Revenue effort for 2013 is targeted by the government at 14.7%, while tax effort is targeted at 13.5%.

In 2012, tax effort increased by 1.6% between the first quarter and second quarter. In April 2013, The BIR collected P149 billion, a 28% growth year-on-year. GDP growth in the first quarter of 2013 was recorded at 7.8%, compared to 6.4% from the first quarter of 2012.