TRAIN delivers on schedule — DoF

“National government revenues rose by 19 percent in the first five months.”

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law is delivering the expected revenues for the national government, a Department of Finance (DoF) official said.

“TRAIN revenues are broadly in line with projections,” Finance Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino said.

The government has projected that the TRAIN law will add around P90 billion from higher taxes on oil, cigarettes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and automotive vehicles.

This will offset the P147 foregone taxes for this year due to lowering of personal income tax rate.

“Overall revenues are meeting the target,” added Lambino.

DoF economic bulletin on national government revenue performance for January to May 2018 showed tax collections in this period increased by 18 percent to P1.07 trillion from P901 billion in the same period in 2017.

Of the amount, tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenues (BIR) reached P827.7 billion this year, up by 15 percent from P717 billion from a year ago.

“National government revenues rose by 19 percent in the first five months as the first phase of TRAIN took effect and tax administration improvements were enhanced, almost doubling nominal GDP (gross domestic product) growth which registered 9.7 percent during the first quarter,” the Department of Finance (DOF) economic bulletin released on Thursday noted.

“Fiscal space expanded by TRAIN 1 and tax administration enabled government to boost investments and growth,” it added.

Last Wednesday, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno said government spending has sustained its momentum last month, which increased by 12 percent to P292 billion.

Diokno said other capital outlays and personnel services boosted the government’s expenditure in May.

Government spending on infrastructure amounted to P58 billion, up by 26 percent, with the completion of various projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Personnel services, on the other hand, grew by 20 percent to P107 billion in May 2018.

“We continue to make strides in the fiscal sector of the economy, and this is confirmed by the spending data. This should translate to better outcomes in the real economy, that is, more jobs for our people, improved standards of living, and robust economic activity,” said Diokno.