The combined collection of P1.636 trillion by the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) for the first eight months of 2020 surpassed the P1.527-trillion target set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) by 7.17 percent for this period, despite the economic downturn resulting from the government-imposed lockdowns since summer to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Finance (DOF) has said.

Citing preliminary BIR and BOC data, the DOF’s Revenue Operations Group (ROG) said that for the January 1-August 31 2020 period, the two agencies collected P109.5 billion more than the revised collection target set by the DBCC last July to account for the pernicious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy.

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, the BIR collected P1.289 trillion, exceeding by P96.44 billion, or 8.08 percent, the DBCC target of P1.192 trillion for this period, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko, who heads the DOF-ROG, said.

The BOC, meanwhile, collected P347.6 billion over the January-August 2020 period, which is P16.97 billion or 5.13 percent more than the DBCC target of P330.63 billion for the same period, Tionko said.

From Aug. 1 to 31, the BIR and BOC also exceeded their DBCC-set collection targets for the month despite the curtailed economic activities in Metro Manila and its nearby provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal from Aug. 4 to 18, when these areas were placed under a strict modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Combined collections of the BIR and BOC reached P216.65 billion in August, which is P61.38 billion or 39.53 percent more than the DBCC target of P155.27 billion for that month, Tionko said.

The BIR collected P172.06 billion in August, which surpassed the DBCC target of P118.2 billion by a remarkable 45.5 percent or P53.87 billion.

A total of P44.59 billion was collected by the BOC in August, topping the DBCC target of P33.68 billion by P10.9 billion or 32.58 percent.

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