Revenue doubles from small-scale mining

BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials recently reported a significant increase in collections from small-scale mining activities.

BIR Regional Director Eduardo Bajador noted increasing profits from gold and other metal products have driven tax collections to double compared to last year’s collection.

Bajador, in the weekly Talakayan program aired by DZEQ Radio ng Bayan, said excise tax collections from mining activities doubled in the middle of 2011 alone from P3 million collections in 2010 to more than P6 million.

He predicted revenues from small-scale mining will likely increase more until December in efforts to tax small-scale miners in the region.

However, big mining companies like Philex and Lepanto still pay their taxes to the BIR Central Office as part of the large taxpayers.

Bajador claimed collections from mining will likely help augment the slump in revenue collections in the region in the second quarter of the year.

To further intensify their collection drive, the BIR will conduct tax information campaigns in Buguias and Mankayan next week to inform small-scale miners of their obligation to pay taxes.

The agency conducted a similar information drive in Itogon earlier this year and was received favorably by small-scale miners.

Hopefully, he said, other small scale miners will be able to join and contribute in their drive for increased tax collections this year.

Tax collections in the region fell short by P6.9 million at P231 million compared to revenue targets last July of more than P237 million.

Baguio City and Abra fell short in collections with the city only collecting P122 million from its target of P1390 million in July, while Abra only collected over P15 million in taxes compared to the agency’s P18 million target.

However, Bajador remains optimistic the region will recover and meet its targets for 2011, as tax remittance advances from portions of Public Works projects now amounting to P4 billion in the region will be remitted as withholding tax by contractors and suppliers before the end of the year. (JM Agreda)