THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said the decline in tobacco tax revenue has slowed down compared to the shortfalls of recent years.
On the sidelines of an event in Quezon City, BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. said the collection performance in 2024 was P134.52 billion in 2024, against P134.92 billion a year earlier, which he described as an improvement over the 2023 decline of 15.84%, and the 17.93% 2022 decline.
He said cracking down on the illicit cigarette trade is dangerous and involves sensitive operations, Mr. Lumagui said earlier in the week.
“First of all, what the government is doing is to discourage the consumption of cigarettes. Partly, our Department of Health is working to achieve this,” he said.
The BIR destroyed illicit cigarettes with estimated tax liabilities of P6.4 billion in Porac, Pampanga.
“We’re focused on raiding and filing cases in connection with the confiscated cigarettes. What we’re doing from raids to filing of criminal cases to destruction of the confiscated cigarettes, we’re showing that we’re serious about this,” he said.
The BIR also filed a P8.5-billion tax evasion case against manufacturers and warehouse operators in Bulacan and Valenzuela on Feb. 17.
Overall excise tax collections totaled P303.06 billion last year, up 3.86%. The 2024 reading is well off the 2022 and 2021 totals of P312.20 billion and P317.69 billion respectively.
In 2024, aside from tobacco, all excise tax segments grew their collections with petroleum posting 68.24% growth to P98.27 billion. Cosmetics procedure collections rose 42.43% to P21.23 billion while collections on non-essentials grew 18.92% to P301.89 billion. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante