Province surpasses 2015 revenue collection
THE Cebu provincial government’s revenue collection in the first four months of this year has exceeded the amount collected during the same period last year.
Based on records from the Provincial Treasurer’s Office, the Capitol earned P1.051 billion from January to April 2016, around P260 million higher than the P790 million earned during the same period last year.
“When our revenue collection increases, our cash availability or liquidity will also increase,” Provincial Treasurer Emmanuel Guial said yesterday.
Guial attributed the increase to a higher Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of P210 million a month this year compared to the P191 million monthly allotment last year.
He also pointed out that the 16 district and provincial hospitals in Cebu earned P74.3 million in four months, which is higher than last year’s P58.6 million.
The Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) also earned P22.38 million from January to April this year, while it only earned P21.58 million during the same period last year.
From P37.61 million during the first four months of 2015, real property tax earnings have increased to P42 million from January to April 2016.
Guial said that as of April, the provincial government has already issued 8,000 stickers to delivery trucks and vans passing through provincial roads.
During the same period in 2015, the Capitol was able to issue only 3,000 stickers.
“These trucks and vans with stickers from the provincial government contribute taxes,” the Capitol official said.
Meanwhile, the provincial government also collected P8.8 million in taxes on sand, gravel and other quarries so far.
Guial said that if the collected amount is similar to the amount that they are going to collect in the remaining months of 2016, they will be able to reach the P2.8-billion mark, which was the amount they collected for the entire 2015.
The Capitol official also attributed the increase in revenue to the awareness of taxpayers.
“Taxpayers have become more aware of their obligations because we have been advertising about payment of taxes in newspapers,” he said.
He added that it is possible that if the increase continues, the provincial government may have a bigger budget for 2017.
Guial said that Capitol targets to collect P2.9 billion this year, P100 million higher than the revenue collection of P2.8 billion in 2015.
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