‘Emerging’ target for excise tax set at P359.06 billion

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said the emerging goal for excise tax collections this year is P359.06 billion, lower than the target set under the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) for 2026.

In Revenue Memorandum Order No. 9-2026 released last week, the BIR said that the emerging goal is 0.16% lower than the P359.65 billion set in the BESF.

The order was issued to spell out the specific collection goals of the Large Taxpayers Service (LTS) and the Revenue Regions after the BIR’s overall collection target was revised to P3.43 trillion in the 192^nd Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) meeting in December.

This emerging goal is 4.15% lower than the P3.58-trillion collection goal set out in the BESF.

The BIR clarified that the BESF-based collection goal will remain the official revenue target of the BIR for the purposes of complying with the Attrition Act of 2005.

“The emerging collection goal will serve as the operational benchmark for agency performance measurement, cash management, budget execution, and mandated reporting to stakeholders, unless instructed otherwise by the DBCC or the Department of Budget and Management,” it said.

Of the total excise tax goal, P357 billion was directly assigned to the LTS, of which P172.49 billion was to come from tobacco products.

Excise taxes from alcohol products are expected to amount to P128.62 billion, while excise taxes from sweetened beverages and mining are expected to total P38.47 billion and P11.27 billion, respectively.

Excise taxes collected from automobiles are expected to amount to P5.75 billion, with taxes from miscellaneous products totaling P354 million.

Meanwhile, collections of excise taxes from cosmetic procedures and tobacco inspection fees are projected to hit P25 million and P8 million, respectively.

The remaining P2.06 billion of the total emerging goal for excise taxes was distributed among the revenue regions and is largely based on their respective actual collections from mining. — Justine Irish D. Tabile