MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which collects the bulk of state tax revenues, said it exceeded its P60-billion goal for December, but may still have incurred a full-year shortfall of around P55 billion in 2009.

"We estimated and we are optimistic that we exceeded the December target by over P1 billion," BIR Commissioner Joel L. Tan-Torres said in a telephone interview yesterday. "We collected more than P61 billion...It [BIR full-year shortfall] will not exceed P55 billion."

The BIR incurred a P56.5-billion shortfall as of November, collecting P681.9 billion against a target of P738.4 billion. If the bureau managed to surpass the P60-billion goal for December by a billion, the collection gap will improve to P55.5 billion.

Mr. Tan-Torres attributed the attainment of the goal to the bureau’s initiatives to remind taxpayers about their obligations. "The high public visibility of the BIR and the awareness campaigns have taken effect. Taxpayers are more conscious about their obligations," he said.

The tax chief said the various enforcement programs announced by the bureau have also prompted taxpayers to pay the proper amount of taxes.

"There were also big-ticket items that we were able to convert into cash. We were able to collect revenues from large taxpayers," he said without elaborating.

Mr. Tan-Torres said they will try their best to meet their target for this year, which ranges from P800-P850 billion. "We will endeavor to meet our target for collections in 2010 through our tax administration measures."

Mr. Tan-Torres said the BIR plans to establish partnerships with state agencies to expand their taxpayer database and to intensify the monitoring of taxpayers’ transactions.

Economic managers had initially pegged BIR’s target this year at P875.1 billion, but have agreed to downscale it to reflect a slower economy and the impact of tax cuts passed by Congress.

Lower revenues have been blamed for the swelling budget gap, which is expected to have reached P290 billion to P298 billion in 2009 and is projected to hit P293 billion this 2010.