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Philippines: Excise tax take up 12% in Sept – DoF

EXCISE tax collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue posted double-digit growth in September on the back of improved monitoring and higher payments by the tobacco industry, a Department of Finance official said.

Collections reached P17.7 billion up 12 percent from a year earlier, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko told reporters,

“Now, of that amount, the tobacco industry accounted for P11.1 billion,” she added.

Tobacco collections were up 14 percent year on year and a sizeable chunk came from Japan Tobacco, Inc. and Mighty Corp. At P4.6 billion, the amount is 281 percent higher compared to last year.

Asked whether this would be sustained, Tionko replied: “I think it will grow. I am happy with [the]P3.3 billion increase but I think it will grow because you have an international company that is eager to compete in this market.”

Mighty—the country’s second-largest cigarette manufacturer in the Philippines—was forced to sell its assets to Japan Tobacco under a settlement with the government, which had accused it of large-scale tax evasion.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/excise-tax-take-12-sept-dof/359760/