Tax officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 13 failed to reach its P36.6 billion collection target for Bohol and Cebu in 2016, based on preliminary data released by the agency.

According to BIR 13 director Hermino Palamine, they only collected P26.9 billion in taxes, P9.7 billion short of its target, but was able to surpass its 2015 collection by P700 million.

However, Palamine had previously admitted that the target was “mission impossible” as the collection goal for 2016 was 47 percent higher than that of 2015.

The BIR official attributed the failure to reach the target to the lack of recurring transactions during the previous year which would have boosted the agency’s collection.

The BIR 13 is assigned to collect tax from Cebu and Bohol through five district revenue offices in Cebu City North, Cebu City South, Mandaue City, Talisay City and Tagbilaran City. (Allen Doydora)