Excise tax income decreased 7% in Eight months

Excise tax revenue decreased 7% in 8 months

Mary Grace Padin (The Filipino Star) – December 31, 2020 – 12:00 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Government excise tax revenues fell to pesetas 351.3 billion from January to October as collections of most excise goods declined during the period, according to the Department of the Treasury (DOF).

Based on DOF data, the government’s total excise tax revenue declined 7.14 percent from January to October, from pesetas 378.3 billion for the same period last year.

Nevertheless, the amount already accounted for around 85 percent of the revised target of excise tax revenues of 411.7 billion pesetas for the whole of 2020.

Broken down, pesetas 243.2 billion of the total was collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), while pesetas 108.1 billion was collected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The tobacco industry contributed pesetas 129.2 billion to the total, 3.29 less than the pesetas 133.6 billion a year ago.

Sales of cigarette products fell in the first few months of the year, particularly due to restrictions on movement to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The excise taxes on alcohol fell 8.06 percent to 59.3 billion pesetas, while the sin taxes on sugary beverages fell 15.69 percent to 30.1 billion pesetas.

The consumption tax receipts from motor vehicles also fell by 45.2 percent to 17.7 billion pesetas. The decline came along with the decline in auto sales this year as a result of operational disruptions due to the Taal Volcano eruption and the coronavirus pandemic.

Excise taxes on cosmetic interventions amounted to P2 million and were thus also below the P4 million reported in the previous year.

On the other hand, excise tax revenues from petroleum products rose 1.15 percent to 105.1 billion pesetas despite the trade disruptions caused by the virus outbreak. 2020 was the first full year of implementation of the fuel labeling program.

The collections of mineral products and coal also increased by 20.27 percent to 8.9 billion pesetas, while those of non-essential goods rose from 900 million pesetas to 1.1 billion pesetas.

Based on the projections of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), excise tax revenue is projected to hit 411.7 billion pesetas over the next year, an increase of 8.83 percent. This is expected to increase further to PTA 461.7 billion in 2021 and PTA 5111.4 billion in 2022.

Overall, the DBCC predicts sales of P.285 trillion this year, PTA 2.88 trillion in 2021 and P.331 trillion in 2022.