WITH the gradual decrease in quarterly tax collections, annual total for Northern Mindanao reached P9.2 billion which dropped by 25.4 percent against 2017 collections of P12.3 billion.
For the fourth quarter of 2018, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)-Northern Mindanao recorded the tax collections of the region to P2.4 billion.
According to Neda, the decline of the quarter and annual tax collections is partly attributed to lowering the personal income tax rates under the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Act, which resulted in lower income tax collections.
Based on the data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, collections from income taxes and value added taxes posted higher than average decreases by 32.7 percent (from P7.5 billion in 2017 to P5.08 billion in 2018) and 28.3 percent (from P3.5 billion in 2017 to P2.5 billion in 2018), respectively.
However, the income taxes still remain as the top revenue earner. Excise taxes and other taxes, on the other hand, recorded a 112.5 percent (from P6.4 million in 2017 to P13.6 million in 2018) and 52.1 percent (from P819.5 million in 2017 to P1.25 billion in 2018) increases, respectively.
All of the cities in Northern Mindanao also reported drop in tax collections in 2018, albeit Cagayan de Oro remains the city with the top collections with a total of P4.9 billion.
This is followed by Bukidnon at P1.7 billion, Iligan City at P1.3 billion, Ozamiz City at P911.5 million, and Gingoog City at P386 million.