THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has shown a strong collection performance in the first four months of 2025, as it reported a P1.1 trillion collection from January to April, net of tax refunds.
Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. made the report in a recent video message posted on his official Facebook page.
According to Lumagui, the amount exceeded the agency’s first quarter target of P7.045 billion, and is 14.5 percent higher than its 2024 collection during the same period.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) recently revised its 2025 revenue program, reducing the overall collection goal for the year to P4.520 trillion from the previous ₱4.644 trillion due to global uncertainties and lower-than-expected economic activity.
The BIR’s own collection target has been trimmed to P3.219 trillion from P3.232 trillion.
Lumagui credited the agency’s strong performance to heightened enforcement efforts and continued digital transformation of its services.
Former BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres, in a series of columns, said the bureau is reaping the fruits of a balanced and aggressive approach to tax enforcement and taxpayer engagement under Lumagui’s leadership.
Tan-Torres said Lumagui’s approach – distinguished by the use of both “hard” and “soft” measures – has resulted in tangible results and improved revenue collections.
He said the hard measures include running after fake transactions, aggressive filing of tax evasion cases with the Department of Justice, and the conduct of regular raids on warehouses and establishments containing excisable products which taxes have not been paid, among others.
Complementing these are Lumagui’s soft strategies, such as “personally interacting with college students to introduce them early to learning about taxation, the formation of a multi-sectoral group consisting of private sector stakeholders and business groups that regularly discusses priority concerns and issues, introduction of a new-look BIR logo, expansion of e-services that facilitates the compliance of taxpayers, and the continued implementation of a customer satisfaction survey from taxpayers engaging with the BIR.”
Tan-Torres, former dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business, lauded Lumagui for his capability to promote principled tax planning while enforcing anti-avoidance measures, and for exhibiting “the mindset and fortitude in combating tax evasion practices of [unscrupulous] taxpayers faking tax invoices, selling unpaid excise tax products, and tapping the services of conspiring tax practitioners in their illegal tax habits.”
Aside from rigid tax enforcement, Lumagui also emphasized the role of digitalization in improving compliance.
One of this digitalization move is the development of a digital track-and-trace system that will allow consumers and regulators to verify the authenticity of vape products and other excisable goods using QR codes readable by any smartphone.
The initiative is part of the agency’s efforts to curb the proliferation of smuggled and unregulated vape products, which continue to evade taxes and pose risks to public health.
Lumagui said the new system will assist both government enforcement efforts and law-abiding businesses, as he warned that billions of pesos in revenue are lost due to illegal vape operations.
He said enforcement efforts have become challenging due to tactics that retailers use to hide unregistered products from inspectors.
He also acknowledged that enforcement is further challenged by the rapid shift from cigarettes to vape products, particularly among the youth.
Lumagui called for citizen participation by opening reporting channels and providing incentives to those who report illicit trade under the BIR’s existing reward system.
