DOF flags softer BIR, BOC revenues

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December 23, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Revenue collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has been “softer” than the projected yield of the national government, according to the Department of Finance, which cited extraordinary circumstances following the probe into the flood control issue.

Finance Secretary Frederick Go told reporters that projections were made before the public works investigation and noted that revenues of the two agencies are still higher than last year amid the flood control corruption scandal.

“The whole key to all of this is for us to get over the hump of this public works investigation. The sooner people move on from it, the better for the economy and the better, therefore, for revenue collection,” Go said.

Both the BIR and the BOC are expected to fall short of their mandated collection targets set by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee.

For the entire year, the BIR is tasked with collecting P3.219 trillion in revenue.

BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza said full-year collection of the tax agency could reach P3.1 trillion based on their conservative estimate, falling 3.8 percent short of the target.

“For BIR, I think it was doing very well for the first half of the year, and then it slowly softened as time went on. But fortunately, it still records an increase in collections every month. So far, December collections seem to be encouraging for BIR only,” Go said.

Meanwhile, the BOC has a collection goal of P958.7 billion. Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the agency now projects a full-year revenue of P939.4 billion, which is two percent lower than the target.

“In Customs, we banned the importation of rice for 33 percent of the year. So that definitely affected collections. The natural calamities, especially the typhoons, shut down customs operations for a significant number of days that also affected our collections,” Go said.

To recover from a slower revenue collection, Go said the focus remains on prosecution, restitution and genuine reform, adding that successfully prosecuting certain individuals could accelerate economic growth in the first quarter.

“I think the key really is to get over the public works investigation. I wouldn’t say we’re over the hump. But I think most of it is behind us. And people’s expectations now are proper prosecution, proper restitution and genuine reform in the public works arena,” he said.

“If all goes according to plan, then we should be looking at a much brighter 2026 in the first quarter,” Go added.