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Philippines: Alcohol, tobacco excise tax collections exceed target
MANILA, Philippines — Excise tax collections from alcohol and tobacco products of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) both exceeded their respective targets in the first nine months, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
In an interview, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said the government’s alcohol excise tax collection from January to September amounted to P49.36 billion, 24.35 percent higher than the P39.69 billion target for the period.
Tionko said this was also 15.22 percent higher than the BIR’s alcohol sin tax collection of P42.84 billion in same period last year.
For the month of September, alone, Tionko said collections from alcohol excise tax rose by 13 percent to P5.6 billion from last year’s level of P4.95 billion. This was also 23 percent above the P4.56 billion target for the month.
Meanwhile, Tionko said the BIR’s year-to-date tobacco excise tax collections hit about P106.89 billion as of September, also exceeding the target of P96 billion by 11.33 percent.
This is despite the 57.72-percent drop in tobacco sin tax collections for the month of September, to P8.89 billion from last year’s level of P21 billion.
“For the month of September, the collection is P8.89 billion, which is about the monthly average. But it’s 57 percent lower than September last year because of the one- time non-recurring collection,” Tionko said.
Tionko was referring to the P4.6 billion payment made by Japan Tobacco International Philippines Inc. after its acquisition of Bulacan-based cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. last year.
The excise tax rates of both alcoholic and tobacco products have increased since 2013 due the implementation of Republic Act 10351 or the Sin Tax Reform Law.
Since January this year, the excise tax on tobacco has been adjusted upward once again after the enactment of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
The law raised the excise tax rate on tobacco products to P32.50 per pack effective in January and P35 per pack in July.
However, the DOF earlier bared its plans to further increase taxes imposed on both cigarettes and alcoholic drinks as part of the Package 2 Plus of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program.
The proposal, according to the DOF, will increase the tax rates of all types of alcoholic beverages, including distilled spirits, wines and fermented liquors.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/10/31/1864534/alcohol-tobacco-excise-tax-collections-exceed-target#UAJDmmzReJ5gWaMh.99