Excise tax collections surge 82% in January

Excise tax collections surged in January to hit nearly double from a year ago as the new tax law kicked in, boosted by new duties on sugary drinks, data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) showed.

In a statement, the Department of Finance said collections from cigarette, alcohol and sweetened drinks reached P22.078 billion, 81.7% higher than the P12.152 billion collected in January 2017 and overshooting the P20.501-billion target. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez