As the administration’s ongoing comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP) continues to make strides, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III highlighted the significant figures brought by the reform, its first package in particular.

The economy is doing pretty good so we expect that it will reflect better collections

“Don’t look at only the collections, look at what is given out and they were given out directly to individuals,” Dominguez told reporters during a press briefing.

“For the entire TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) we collected P41.9 billion (and) that’s only for the first three quarters (in 2018) and the target for the period was P44.3 billion,” he added.

Data from the Department of Finance (DoF) showed this amount translates to a total shortfall of 5.3 percent or P2.3 billion for the period bringing the success rate of TRAIN in terms of collections at 94.7 percent.

“But I want to emphasize that the big number there is the reduction in personal income tax (PIT) (which is) P102.9 billion. That is close to P12 billion a month,” Dominguez said.

The Finance chief explained this development brought an additional P12 billion spending power to Filipinos per month.

“This TRAIN Law benefited directly individuals earning P250,000 (annually) and even those earning less. TRAIN has succeeded 100 percent in that regard,” Dominguez pointed out.

“In the collections, we succeeded 94.7 percent for the first nine months. In any grading system, it’s not bad,” he added, noting that while some of the reported TRAIN figures were against estimates, “estimates are estimates,” he stressed.

According to the DoF, the biggest gains observed for the overall TRAIN collections for the first three quarters of 2018 were the tobacco excise tax, personal income tax and the documentary stamp tax recording above-target performances.

Moreover, the agency expects the first tranche of the CTRP to hit its full-year target of P63.3 billion as overall performance of revenue agencies showed good numbers based on the emerging full-year collection data.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet official likewise eyes improvement in the DoF’s collection figures given the recent economic developments in the country.

“The economy is doing pretty good so we expect that it will reflect better collections,” Dominguez said.