BIR sees improving economy boosting collections

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said its January revenue performance of P358 billion makes it confident of its collection performance this year as the economy improves.

“Our preliminary figures so far for January, I think we collected more or less, subject to reconciliation,  around P358 billion,” BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza told reporters on Monday.

The preliminary January total, if confirmed, would represent a 0.82% year-on-year improvement.

He added that the projected 5-6% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year “will translate into higher value-added, excise, and income tax.”

Last year, economic growth slowed to 4.4%, from 5.7% in 2024.

The 2025 reading was the weakest  in five years, or since GDP declined by 9.5% in 2020. Excluding pandemic years, it was the weakest since the 3.9% posted in 2011.

Mr. Mendoza said digitalization and real-time, near-time monitoring will help minimize revenue leakages.

“And then, hopefully this year, infrastructure projects will accelerate, and that will help increase revenue,” he said.

For 2026, he said the BIR has been set a collection target of P3.58 trillion. If realized, this would exceed the 2025 total by 15.3%.

On Monday, the BIR conducted a nationwide tax compliance verification drive in observance of Tax Awareness Month.

Mr. Mendoza said the CHAT (Counsel, Help, Assist Taxpayers) program is expected to help increase collections.

“If our taxpayers are compliant and if they are not registered, and we register them, then they will be part of the tax base,” he said.

“If they issue invoices, we will capture their sales. And that will translate to higher revenue for the government,” he added.

During a visit to 168 Mall in Binondo, Manila, he said that some establishments were non-compliant.

“We saw some that do not have the ‘Ask for receipt’ display, and I reminded them that every time someone buys, they need to issue a sales invoice, even if the customer did not request an invoice,” he said.

“We also saw some that had lumped journal entries when the entries should be reflected individually … We reminded them to input the entries right after the sale,” he added.

The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) welcomed the information campaign.

“It is a very friendly visit of our commissioner to encourage more payment of the right taxes. It will be beneficial for our country,” FFCCCII President Victor Y. Lim told reporters.

“I think most of us are complying with the payment of the right taxes,” he added.

He also encouraged FFCCCII members and other ethnic Chinese businessmen to pay the right taxes.

Meanwhile, he said that the reduced frequency of letters of authority (LoAs) issued to initiate tax audits has been beneficial to businessmen.

“Before there were two or three … it was very disturbing because of the several LoAs (each year), but right now there is only one LoA for the year,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile