Excise tax revenues down 7% in Eight months

Excise tax revenues down 7% in 8 months

Mary Grace Padin (The Philippine Star) – December 31, 2020 – 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s excise tax revenues declined to P351.3 billion from January to October  as collections from most excisable commodities  declined during the review period, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Based on DOF data, the government’s total excise tax collections from January to October dropped by 7.14 percent from P378.3 billion  in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, the amount already accounted for about 85 percent of the P411.7 billion revised excise tax revenue target for the whole of 2020.

Broken down, P243.2 billion of the total amount was collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), while P108.1 billion was raised by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The tobacco industry contributed P129.2 billion to the total amount, 3.29 lower than the P133.6 billion recorded a year ago.

Cigarette products saw a decline in sales in the earlier months of the year, particularly due to movement restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Alcohol excise taxes fell by 8.06 percent to P59.3 billion, while sin taxes from sugar sweetened beverages went down by 15.69 percent to P30.1 billion.

Excise tax collections from automobiles also retreated by 45.2 percent to P17.7 billion.  The  decline happened along with the drop  in car sales this year as a result disruptions in operations due to Taal Volcano’s eruption and the coronavirus pandemic.

Excise taxes from cosmetic procedures amounted to P2 million, also lower than the P4 million posted last year.

On the other hand,  excise tax revenues from petroleum products rose by 1.15 percent to P105.1 billion despite the trade disruptions caused by the virus outbreak. The year 2020 marked the first full year of implementation of the fuel marking program.

Collections from mineral products and coal, likewise, increased by 20.27 percent to P8.9 billion, while those from non-essentials inched up to P1.1 billion from  P900 million.

Based on projections made by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), revenues from excise taxes are expected to reach P411.7 billion next year, up 8.83 percent. This is seen to further increase to P461.7 billion in 2021 and P511.4 billion in 2022.

Overall, the DBCC projects revenues to reach P2.85 trillion this year, P2.88 trillion in 2021 and P3.31 trillion in 2022.