MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is currently off-track in achieving its P1.829-trillion revenue target for 2017 despite higher collections in the first four months, its chief said yesterday.

On the sidelines of the Integrity Forum yesterday, BIR commissioner Caesar Dulay told reporters the bureau is “a little bit off” its path toward reaching its revenue goal for the year.

“That is why we are working triple time to be on track with our targets,” Dulay said.

BIR collections for the first four months amounted to P558.07 billion, 10 percent higher than the P507.83 billion posted in the same period last year.

This corresponds to 30.5 percent of the P1.829 trillion target, leaving the BIR with eight more months to fill the remaining 70 percent.

BIR collections during April, when the deadline for the filing of income tax returns usually falls, rose six percent to P187.7 billion from P177.7 billion a year ago.

However, this failed to prop up the government’s total revenue in April which fell four percent year-on-year to P235.9 billion.

Dulay said revenue-collecting agencies were affected by the holidays during the month of April. He also said revenues were higher last year due to election spending.

“If you recall April 2016 was during the midst of the election campaign and there was a lot of spending so I think the collections of the BIR rode on that,” he said.

To catch up with its target, Dulay said the BIR is currently reviewing its operations and intensifying its enforcement of tax laws.

“We are stepping up on law enforcement, that is important,” Dulay said, adding that “we got letters of authority pending, we want collections on pending cases with the Court of Tax Appeals. I am encouraging mediation and settlement of these tax cases so we can collect.”

The commissioner said the bureau is also implementing tax administration measures, and is stepping up its campaign against corruption within the agency.