MANILA - Tax collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) for the first 8 months of the year exceeded government's target despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the Department of Finance said Sunday.

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The agencies collected a combined P1.636 trillion, 7.17 percent higher than the P1.527-trillion target of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), the DOF said in a statement.

Of this figure, P1.289 trillion came from the BIR, and P347.6 billion was from the BOC, according to Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko.

The two agencies' collection of P216.65 billion for the month of August also exceeded the DBCC-set target of P155.27 billion.

The BIR collected P172.06 billion in August while BOC collected P44.59 billion, Tionko said.

The finance department earlier said it expects to collect some P2.71 trillion in taxes in 2021 as the country continues to ease economic restrictions linked to the pandemic.

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