Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Monday the national government collected P2.13 trillion in revenues as of end-June 2024, up 14.6 percent from the same period last year.
“With 50 percent of the revenue target already achieved in the first semester, we are on track to reach the P4.27 trillion revenue program for 2024,” Recto told reporters at the sidelines of EJAP-San Miguel Economic Forum 2024 in Manila.
Recto said tax revenues improved 8.8 percent to P1.81 trillion as of end-June, with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) boosting their collection efforts by 10.2 percent (P1.34 trillion) and 4.8 percent (P454.1 billion), respectively.
Non-tax revenues also expanded by 64.5 percent to P316.52 billion, he said.
He said that over the medium term, the DOF anticipates a 10.3-percent average annual growth in revenues to support the Filipino people’s growing needs, rising from P4.27 trillion in 2024 to P6.25 trillion by 2028.
“This robust growth will be on the back of enhancing the administrative efficiency of the Bureau of Internal Revenue BIR and the Bureau of Customs through digitalization and plugging leakages in the tax system, especially from e-commerce,” Recto said.
“While no new tax proposals are on the table, refined revenue reforms await congressional approval that could inject an average of P42 billion annually into the nation’s coffers beginning in 2025,” he said.
Recto said every peso would be stretched to deliver a bigger bang per buck, ensuring sustainable funding for the nation’s HEARTS (Health; Education; Agriculture; Roads and Infrastructure; Technology; and Security and Social Protection).
Recto also highlighted the government’s stronger collaboration with the private sector as part of its efforts to expedite infrastructure projects and service delivery nationwide.
“We will soon witness and experience the results of every effort, every policy decision and every investment commitment we have secured. All these are designed to ensure a more comfortable life for all, lifting 14 million Filipinos out of poverty by the end of the President’s term,” Recto said.
Meanwhile, Recto said he is willing to recommend to the President to stop the operations of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country.
“I do not think POGO as it is. The illegal stuff that they do. I suppose it’s not POGO like the ones in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga,” Recto said.
“I don’t think we have to pin our hopes on POGO,” he said.
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