BIR says fewer tax collections last year, but more tax-paying businesses

MANILA – The Bureau of Internal Revenue said Monday it collected P1.94 trillion taxes last year, 11.23 percent less than the P2.19 trillion in 2019 as taxpayers were unable to pay taxes amid the pandemic.

But more business taxpayers were registered in 2020, it added, seeing a 6.15-percent increase to 4.37 million taxpaying businesses.

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The bureau automated collections amid the COVID-19 crisis, saying that 86 percent of its total collections were done online.

Of the 22.86 million tax returns last year, 94 percent or 21.5 million were filed online, the BIR said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the lower tax collections was understandable, as the pandemic dragged the economy resulting in an estimated 9.5-percent contraction for the whole year of 2020.

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