The government's revenue collections went up by over 3 percent in January to August this year, driven by the strong growth in tax collections, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said Wednesday.

In its latest cash operations report, the BTr said total revenue collections during the period amounted to P3.09 trillion, up by 3.07 percent from the P2.99 trillion recorded in the same period last year.

Tax collections accounted for about P2.79 trillion or 90.33 percent of the total revenues, surpassing the previous year’s performance by 8.92 percent.

The BTr said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) remained the primary contributor, raising P2.14 trillion, up by 11.44 percent compared to last year.

"The robust performance was driven by higher corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax, excise tax on tobacco, percentage tax on banks/financial institutions, and documentary stamp tax," said the BTr.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P621.4 billion, higher by 1.14 percent from the previous year due to the Bureau’s intensified efforts against illicit trade.

Non-tax revenues, meanwhile, stood at P298.3 billion as of end-August, already achieving 97.33 percent of the revised full-year program of P306.5 billion.

Income from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) amounted to P189.3 billion, accounting for 63.46 percent of the total non-tax revenues and exceeded the upward-adjusted revised full-year program of P179.2 billion.

"BTr’s overperformance was driven by higher interest earnings on NG deposits, dividend remittances, income from managed funds, and the NG share from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) and the Manila International Airport Authority’s (MIAA) profits," the BTr said.

Expenditures

The BTr said spending went up by 7.15 percent to PHP3.95 trillion, equivalent to 65.01 percent of the P6.08 trillion revised full-year 2025 program.

Of the total, P3.37 trillion were primary expenditures, surpassing the January to August 2024 outturn by 5.95 percent.

Interest payments over the same period amounted to P584.1 billion or 14.77 percent of total disbursements.

The BTr, meanwhile, said the budget deficit remains manageable at P869.2 billion for the first eight months of the year, well within the P1.56 trillion revised full-year program for 2025 and accounting for only 55.66 percent of the target.