THE government’s tax collection in Cebu and Bohol reached P8.47 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 13 managed to hike its tax take by 7.76 percent from last year’s P7.86 billion despite the evolving challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis on raising state funds.
The BIR 13’s collection in the first three months fell 0.24 percent short of its P8.49 billion original target for the period.
The BIR earlier revised its first quarter tax goal for Cebu and Bohol to P6.59 billion amid the coronavirus pandemic, enabling it to surpass the new target by 28.35 percent.
While Covid-19’s full impact has yet to hit the tax take, BIR 13 Director Eduardo Pagulayan said the economic pain brought about by the crisis will hurt collection growth.
The BIR 13’s tax collection target for 2020 was slashed to P34.15 billion, down 11.57 percent from the original target of P38.62 billion set early this year.
The state’s main tax collecting agency has downscaled targets for this year amid the economic challenges faced by both corporate and individual taxpayers.
Meanwhile, Pagulayan warned erring taxpayers that the agency’s enforcement activities will resume once the enhanced community quarantine is lifted.
“I would like to appeal to our taxpayers, especially those who intentionally or unintentionally were remiss in their payment of taxes, now is the appropriate time for them to review their tax compliance and amend their tax returns and pay their correct taxes so that they can help our government,” he told SunStar Cebu on Tuesday, May 5, 2020.
Nationwide, the BIR’s collection target was downscaled to P2.26 trillion from the previous P2.576 trillion.
Meanwhile, the deadline for the filing and payment of annual income tax returns (ITR) had been moved anew for the third time, following the extension of the enhanced community quarantine in high risk areas in the country including Cebu. The BIR extended the deadline to June 14, from the original schedule of April 15.