The combined collection of the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) for the first eight months of the year surpassed the revised collection target for the period by 7.17 percent, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
The DOF said in a statement yesterday the two agencies generated P1.636 trillion in January to August 2020, exceeding the P1.527 trillion goal set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
This is despite the economic downturn resulting from the government-imposed lockdowns since mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the DOF added.
Citing preliminary BIR and BOC data, the DOF said from January 1 to August 31, the two agencies collected P109.5 billion more than the revised collection figure set by the DBCC last July to account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy.
The DOF however did not disclose the original collection targets set by the BIR and BOC, for the period of January to August, and for the month of August alone.
The DOF reported that BIR collected P1.289 trillion for the period, exceeding by 8.08 percent the target of P1.192 trillion.
The BOC, meanwhile, collected P347.6 billion in January to August, which is 5.13 percent more than the goal of P330.63 billion, the DOF said.
It added that from August 1 to 31, the BIR and BOC also exceeded their DBCC-set collection targets for the month despite the curtailed economic activities in Metro Manila and its nearby provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal from August 4 to 18, when these areas were placed under a strict modified enhanced community quarantine.
Combined collections of the BIR and BOC reached P216.65 billion in August, which is 39.53 percent more than the target of P155.27 billion for that month, the DOF said.
The BIR collected P172.06 billion in August, which surpassed the target of P118.2 billion by 45.5 percent.
A total of P44.59 billion was collected by the BOC for the month, topping the goal of P33.68 billion by 32.58 percent.
