The share of tax revenues to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) improved in 2019, the Department of Finance (DOF) said, as collection and tax administration efforts were ramped up by the government.
Carlos Dominguez, DOF secretary, said in a speech yesterday based on preliminary data, the tax effort stood at 15.1 percent of GDP in 2019, higher than the 14.7 percent recorded in 2018.
“This is the best we have achieved in 22 years,” Dominguez said in a forum held in Makati.
“We expect the tax effort to be further reinforced this year from the better tax administration and intensified anti-smuggling drive of the government; the passage of the remaining tax reform packages; the increasing amounts of dividend remittances for our government-owned and controlled corporations; and sustained campaign to crack down on errant Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and their service providers,” he added.
Dominguez said the sector yielded P6.42 billion in tax collections last year, a 169 percent increase from 2018.
“We expect to collect significantly more this year as we properly document and audit operations of these service providers,” Dominguez said.
“In 2019, we made history by raising excise taxes on tobacco products twice under the same administration. This month, a new set of sin taxes on e-cigarettes and alcohol was enacted. While discouraging smoking, vaping, and binge drinking, the new excise taxes will help us fund the Universal Health Care program that will primarily benefit low-income families,” he said.
Dominguez said preliminary figures show tax collection from sin products is almost double in 2019 compared to 2015.
