Gov't revenues up 20% in H1 after passage of TRAIN Law

The government posted a 20-percent increase in total revenues during the first six months of the year following the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, the Department of Finance said Sunday.

According to an advisory released by the DOF, total revenues in the first semester were recorded at P1.410 trillion, up by 19.9 percent from the P1.176 trillion the same period in 2017.

Broken down, tax revenues grew by 17.4 percent to P1.254 trillion. This was comprised of P964.5 billion from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), P279.4 billion from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and P10.9 billion from other collecting agencies.

Meanwhile, non-tax revenue rose by 45.1 percent to P155.7 billion from the P107.3 billion recorded the same six months last year.

"Fiscal space expanded by TRAIN 1 and tax administration enabled government to boost investments and growth in the first semester," the DOF said.

President Rodrigo Duterte in December signed TRAIN into law in December, which effectively expanded the value-added tax (VAT) base and reduced personal income taxes (PIT) starting this year. 

"Strong macroeconomic fundamentals backed by tax reforms and the Build, Build, Build program will continue to boost economic growth as the competitiveness of the economy rises and more jobs are created," it added. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/LBG, GMA News